Christine Grimaldi
Christine, a white woman with brown hair, poses in a black leather jacket and a Palmetto State Abortion Fund shirt with the campaign slogan for “Mifepristone & Misoprostol ‘24”—the safe, effective two-medication regimen for a self-managed abortion—on a rooftop above the White House. She smiles, wearing large glasses, red lipstick, and layers of gold chains, and holds the jacket open with her bejeweled hands in the style of The Fonz.
Christine Grimaldi (she/her) is a Washington, D.C.-based nonfiction writer, abortion journalist, and podcast host.
Christine is currently seeking literary representation for two nonfiction books. First up is “The Shadow and The Ghost,” based on Christine’s acclaimed Atavist Magazine true crime-meets-family secret narrative of the same name. Then there is the "memoir-plus" Vendetta: A Memoir in Grudges, based on Christine’s popular online essays that turn the second-wave feminist slogan “the personal is political” into present-day intersectional feminist art. Click on their navigation tabs for more information about each work-in-progress.
What distinguishes Christine is her writer’s voice, which a favorite professor once called “a refreshing mix of tough talking moll and vulnerable little doe.” Christine’s work is literary and accessible.
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The Shadow and the Ghost
Giuseppina’s Pentecostal faith is an empowering departure from the imperial rituals of Catholicism. There is no private confession with a priest prescribing three Hail Marys and two Our Fathers as a cure-all for carnal sin, while he does God knows what behind closed doors. Pentecostals emphasize a direct line of communication with the divine. Why pray to Mary or the saints when you can repent to Gesù himself?
No records will survive to indicate when Giuseppina begins preaching. Perhaps she starts small, testifying to the glory of God from her seat in Sister Zollo’s church. Perhaps Sister Zollo, recognizing Giuseppina’s talent, makes room for her at the pulpit, only to realize that she’s elevated a rival.
Vendetta: A Memoir in Grudges
Those were the questions I asked myself on my “bad poop days” in 2015, when I started seeing a doctor who I will refer to as Dr. Name Redacted. He came highly recommended by my primary care doctor, and the internet stood behind his reputation as the 5-star Uber driver you would want if your internal road conditions were backed up or, in my case, mudslides threatened to wipe out the roads.
Dr. Name Redacted, I would later learn once our doctor-patient relationship turned like my stomach, is a top leader of the John Carroll Society. The Red Mass went up my ass.
—Excerpt from "The Shadow and The Ghost"
—Excerpt from Vendetta's "The Red Mass Went Up My Ass"
The Shadow and the Ghost
Giuseppina’s Pentecostal faith is an empowering departure from the imperial rituals of Catholicism. There is no private confession with a priest prescribing three Hail Marys and two Our Fathers as a cure-all for carnal sin, while he does God knows what behind closed doors. Pentecostals emphasize a direct line of communication with the divine. Why pray to Mary or the saints when you can repent to Gesù himself?
No records will survive to indicate when Giuseppina begins preaching. Perhaps she starts small, testifying to the glory of God from her seat in Sister Zollo’s church. Perhaps Sister Zollo, recognizing Giuseppina’s talent, makes room for her at the pulpit, only to realize that she’s elevated a rival.
—Excerpt from "The Shadow and The Ghost"
Vendetta: A Memoir in Grudges
Those were the questions I asked myself on my “bad poop days” in 2015, when I started seeing a doctor who I will refer to as Dr. Name Redacted. He came highly recommended by my primary care doctor, and the internet stood behind his reputation as the 5-star Uber driver you would want if your internal road conditions were backed up or, in my case, mudslides threatened to wipe out the roads.
Dr. Name Redacted, I would later learn once our doctor-patient relationship turned like my stomach, is a top leader of the John Carroll Society. The Red Mass went up my ass.
—Excerpt from Vendetta's "The Red Mass Went Up My Ass"