Looking for your next read, but can’t decide where to start? Here are four new and compelling books written by Armenian authors in a list compiled by the International Armenian Literary Alliance. From a short story collection set in sweltering Barcelona to a chilling thriller with a race against time, there’s something for everybody here!
The Black Moth by Carolyne Topdjian was selected for the Publishers Weekly Mysteries and Thrillers of Fall 2023 collection!
“A fast-paced haunting novel of survival.” — Library Journal (Starred Review)
“Suspenseful, haunting and intricate, Topdjian masterfully delivers in this atmospheric debut that will have you on the edge of your seat.” — Karen Winn, author of Our Little World
Ever since the hitman’s daughter Mave Michael Francis learned she is the owner of a crumbling grand hotel, life has been upside-down. Not only is she struggling to fit into her new role and to reconcile with her incarcerated father, but a string of bizarre burglaries is plaguing the nearby village. Meanwhile, the hotel director is running ghost tours to drum up desperately-needed revenue, and Mave’s staff is scrambling to host an over-the-top goth wedding. Mave needs to ensure the event is a success to rescue the hotel from bankruptcy. But when she discovers the mask of the Château du Ciel’s rumored ghost in the defunct greenhouse where the wedding ceremony is booked, her priorities fracture.
Months ago, the supposed ghost, Holden Frost, saved Mave’s life, then vanished into thin air. It’s an enigma and debt she can’t forget. As she plans for the big wedding by day, Mave secretly digs into Holden’s true identity and disappearance by night. Her search takes her to the most sinister place: the darknet. And instead of answers to decode Holden’s whereabouts, she attracts a stranger online who also wants Holden Frost found — and who will kill Mave’s father in prison unless Mave delivers Holden’s location, dead or alive. Tick tock.
As the clock winds down to the wedding and her father’s potential murder, Mave becomes increasingly ensnared in Holden’s troubled past. And while she’s being used as bait to raise Holden from the dead, the stranger online may be closing in for the kill — and may be closer to her at the hotel, than her father in prison.
Carolyne Topdjian is a suspense writer with publications in PRISM International, Dreamers Magazine and Firewords Quarterly. She has an interdisciplinary Ph.D. from York University and is a professor in the Faculty of Media and Creative Arts at Humber College in Toronto. She is a two-time Pitch Wars mentor and lives in a 112-year-old haunted house. She is the author of the acclaimed novel The Hitman’s Daughter. She lives in Ontario. Find her on X @TopdjianC.
You can purchase The Black Moth at IALA’s Bookshop storefront.
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Paul Kayaian’s debut book, Day Rates, Night Sweats, and Often Barcelona In Between, is a compelling and entertaining collection of short stories.
At its heart, the book raises the curtain on the multifaceted city of Barcelona. Through Kayaian’s many years of traveling and visiting the city, Barcelona comes to life as a place that is at once lovely, occasionally magical and, in some instances, unapologetically harsh.
While Barcelona is a uniquely European city in every cultural aspect, the diverse collection also delves into themes of love, murder, sports, revenge, heroes, villains, some social commentary and of course (this being Barcelona) tapas! As a result, the reader will surely experience a wide array of emotions evoking humor, sadness, and poignant, honest storytelling.
Paul Kayaian is a prolific writer who shares his time between the bustling streets of New York and the enchanting world of Barcelona. His deep connection to both cities has fueled his creative spirit, inspiring him to craft stories that resonate with readers from diverse backgrounds. In addition to his literary pursuits, Paul is the creator of the engaging blog, “Barcelona Redux,” where he offers a unique perspective on life as a New Yorker in the vibrant and ever-evolving city of Barcelona.
You can purchase Day Rates, Night Sweats, and Often Barcelona In Between at IALA’s Bookshop storefront.
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The Flying African by Areg Azatyan and translated by Nazareth Seferian will take you on an exciting adventure through Africa.
“Azatyan has a distinct talent with a playful sensibility full of probing questions…” — Atom Egoyan, Canadian-Armenian film director, screenwriter and producer
“I really enjoyed the book opening and was intrigued and amused by the different chapters. I loved…the quick way I was drawn into encounters with strangers and little mysteries.” — Olivia Hetreed, screenwriter for the major motion picture Girl with a Pearl Earring
The Flying African follows the journey of an unnamed traveler, a young Armenian writer who spends 54 adventurous days in Africa, one day in each of the continent’s countries. Fifty-four chapters provide vignettes of the visits to each country, in which the traveler experiences the beauty of the land and the complexity of the people, as well the continent’s darker side: the ongoing effects of colonization, war, poverty and disease. While it is impossible to understand the whole of Africa or even one country in a short visit, each chapter provides a snapshot of something significant about the country visited, grounded in its own history, culture and customs.
The traveler’s progress is episodic and surreal, and at times he becomes dissociated and unsure of even where he is or what he is observing. Ultimately, the traveler, and the reader along with him, takes a complex journey of letting go of expectations and opening up to the profound effects of encountering what is both familiar and foreign.
Areg Azatyan is an Armenian writer and filmmaker based in the United States. He is the author of six fiction books published by leading publishing houses in Armenia and has also published short fiction in Armenian and international magazines and newspapers. He was the recipient of one of the highest governmental literary awards in Armenia, the Presidential Youth Prize for Literature (2004), as well as Best Writer of the Year (2010) Mesrop Mashtots trophy and several other international and national literary awards. As a filmmaker, his work has been recognized with several awards and prizes, and he has participated in more than 40 international film festivals, including Berlinale, Rotterdam, Sao Paulo and Gothenburg.
Nazareth Seferian was born in Canada, grew up in India and moved to his homeland of Armenia in 1998, where he has been living ever since. He began literary translations in 2011 and his published works include the English versions of works by Gurgen Khanjyan, Mushegh Galshoyan, Susanna Harutyunyan, Grig, Karine Khodikyan and Aram Pachyan. He has also translated several short stories by other Armenian authors including Artavazd Yeghiazaryan, Levon Shahnur, Armen of Armenia (Ohanyan), Areg Azatyan, Avetik Mejlumyan and Anna Davtyan.
You can purchase The Flying African at IALA’s Bookshop storefront.
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Kristen Anahit Cass’s novel Reparations of the Heart: Toward a SWANA Futurity explores what the world would look like from a SWANA futurist perspective.
“In Reparations of the Heart and in the person of the remarkable artist Anahit Cass, we find a new and powerful artistic voice, one that speaks to today’s most pressing issues, including the ongoing war being waged globally against First Peoples by colonizing powers.” — Christopher Atamian, writer, director, gallerist and curator of the Atamian Hovsepian Curatorial Practice
“Her art seeks to fill the voids left by wounds, while opening up each scar to new possibilities that refuse to see them as an end in and of themselves. She is simultaneously in dialogue with SWANA ancestors, hard contemporary realities and dreams for a future aligned with communal hopes and aspirations.” — Hrag Vartanian, editor-in-chief and co-founder of Hyperallergic
Divided into three parts, Reparations of the Heart crosses time and borders. “Ancestors” connects us to our past, building on the wisdom of our ancestors and infusing it with a greater openness and liberation for all people. “The Republic of My Imagination” situates us in a difficult but hopeful present where we create community, encouraging healing and hope through solidarity and mutual support. “A Planet of Our Own” launches us into an alternative future world where kindness and compassion are core values, replacing the oppression and colonialism of the present.
The book offers Cass’ unique perspective as a queer SWANA elder. Her long experience as a mother, activist, writer and artist infuses the book with a unique perspective on queering the future to build a compassionate and inclusive world, holding compassion as a core value, respecting a spectrum of identities and offering ways to love and live in the world.
Reparations of the Heart was inspired by the aftermath of the 1915 Armenian Genocide and was written amid the recent genocide in Artsakh and the ongoing genocide in Gaza. The wounds of these atrocities are felt on its pages, but against all odds, it insists that change is possible. This profound book imagines the future and envisions creating it, encompassing land back, reparations, ethnic and cultural diversity, ancestral practices and shared SWANA culture.
Kristin Anahit Cass is a writer and artist working in photography, video, sculpture and other media. Cass’s work imagines the future, touches the past and envisions a better world. In addition to her arts education, Cass has worked with women and minority-owned businesses, artists and nonprofits in her career as a lawyer. She is one of the founders of the LGBTQ platform Entanik (Family) where she’s active in supporting creatives in the global community. Her Borderlands Under Fire project was a finalist for the 2018 Dorothea Lange-Paul Taylor Prize. Cass is a graduate of the University of Chicago. She lives in Chicago and Denver. You can find her on Instagram @kristinanahitcassprojects
You can purchase Reparations of the Heart: Toward a SWANA Futurity here.
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