I am a writer, artist, and art historian.

My debut novel, MIDNIGHT AT THE CINEMA PALACE, was released by Simon & Schuster in June of 2025, and is available everywhere you buy books! Read all about it on Simon & Schuster’s website.

EVENT SCHEDULE:

Thursday, January 22, 2026 7:00 p.m.
Reading at the University Club in St. Paul, sponsored by Subtext Bookstore. I will be in conversation with Chris Hewitt, book reviewer from the Minnesota Star Tribune.

March 5-7, 2026
I will be attending AWP’s annual conference in Baltimore, Maryland, and moderating the panel Queer Nostalgia in Fiction. Read about it HERE.

March 27-29, 2026
I’m very excited to be participating in the Saints and Sinners queer literary festival in New Orleans. Read about the festival HERE. It will be my first trip to New Orleans. If you can make it, say hi!

In 2023 I was awarded the J. Michael Samuel Prize from the Lambda Literary Foundation for a book in progress, you can read about it here.

I previously won the Bloom Literary Journal Chapbook Prize for fiction in 2013. My short fiction has been published in numerous literary journals; check out my list of fiction publications here. In addition to publication news, this site features some of my personal artwork, including paintings, artist books, and several artistic collaborations.

I am an educator and have taught art history and writing at the college level for over fifteen years. I currently teach in the Department of Art and Design and in the creative writing MFA program at Augsburg University in Minneapolis. I also work as an independent editor of fiction, nonfiction, academic texts, and poetry. I am available for virtual book clubs and events; you can contact me at tradowskyc at gmail.com

I live in beautiful St. Paul, Minnesota. If you’d like to see more pictures of St. Paul than you ever thought you needed, feel free to follow me on Instagram.

Please support your local bookseller! You can do so IRL or through Bookshop. Here are three of my favorite bookstores in the Twin Cities:

Thanks for visiting!