Photo: Gillian Foster
I’m a writer, essayist, and novelist of gothic suspense and mysteries. My debut novel, The Hitman’s Daughter (Agora/Polis Books) is a ghost story + whodunit, lauded by Library Journal as a “fast-paced, haunting novel of survival.” My short fiction has appeared in PRISM International, Dreamers Magazine, and Firewords Quarterly.
My creative endeavors gravitate toward fusions of mystery with horror, psychological suspense, and surrealist fiction. As an Armenian of the diaspora and Lebanese-Canadian, I’m furthermore invested in themes of belonging. My work often explores existential questions—moments when people are caught in dark states of transition, contradiction, and flux. I’ve also authored scholarly essays on posthumanism and surrealism, both topics that influence my storytelling.
I have an interdisciplinary PhD from York University, am a three-time Pitch Wars mentor and a professor in the Faculty of Media and Creative Arts at Humber College in Toronto. Fittingly, I live in an old haunted house.
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Carolyne Topdjian is the author of The Black Moth and The Hitman’s Daughter (Agora/Polis Books). She has published in PRISM International, Dreamers Magazine, and Firewords Quarterly and is a professor in the Faculty of Media and Creative Arts at Humber College in Toronto. Fittingly, she lives in an old haunted house.
You can connect with her on social media, @TopdjianC, or at www.carolynetopdjian.com.
