Thanks for visiting. My name is Patrick Lohier and I’m the author of the literary thriller Radiant Night (Adaptive Books, 2018), and co-author of the serial thriller False Idols, written with Lisa Klink and Diana Renn (Serial Box, 2018).
My stories, book reviews, essays, interviews and other writing have appeared in African American Review, Harvard Review Online, The Georgia Review, Callaloo, The Globe & Mail and other publications. You’ll find pieces from throughout my career on the site.
In terms of my background, where I’m from, etc., my parents were part of the Haitian diaspora of the 1960s. My mom went to Quebec City to study nursing and my dad went to Montreal for his medical residency. Soon after my mom graduated from nursing school she got a job at the hospital where my dad worked, Maisonneuve Hospital on the east side of town, and they met one day in a hallway:
Dad to be: (in Creole): Ou soti Ayiti? *
Future mom: Kite mwen.
Despite such an inauspicious start, I was born in that very same hospital a few years later.
When I was three or four we moved to the U.S., and I grew up just north of Philadelphia, in Cheltenham, Pennsylvania. I was a daydreamer. I spent all my free time reading everything I could get my hands on. Even back then I had an inkling that I might become a writer.
I went to the University of Chicago, where I studied literature, and after graduating I embarked on a career as a writer and editor, primarily of educational, reference and marketing materials. I met my wife in Chicago, and we moved to Toronto in 2003, where we currently live with our two kids.
There’s more, but the other stuff will likely go into a book someday. Suffice to say I’m glad you’re here. I’m humbled by your interest, and I hope you’ll explore the site and check out some of my writing.
Sincerely,
Patrick
* Translation
Dad: Are you from Haiti?
Mom: Leave me alone.