David W. Carstens is a fiction writer, cultural critic, and former political candidate. He recently ran as a Democrat for Texas State House District 66, where he grew up, against ten year incumbent Representative Matt Shaheen. While he does not consider himself to be driven by politics, he was alarmed by the lack of empathy and reason in the Texas State House, and wanted to push a more ambitious and compassionate future for his home state.
He received his undergraduate education from Kenyon College and is currently in the process of acquiring an M.F.A. in Prose Writing from Miami University. His novel-in-progress is about religion, isolation, creation, death, the contemporary technological/social environment and the sport of tennis.
His writing appears around the internet in various magazines and journals, but he also publishes regular political and cultural criticism on his Substack. He dislikes social media, but has grown to understand its importance in disseminating information and combating bad philosophic actors. You can find him on: X, Bluesky, and Threads.
Currently, he is in the process of moving to Washington D.C. He spends his time reading widely, collecting books and other physical media, drinking red wine.