Carina Stopenski

Carina Stopenski is a part of the 2017 VIH Cohort from Chatham University, where they received their BFA in Creative Writing, a minor in Gender Studies, and a certificate in Women’s Leadership. They hold a Master’s of Science in Library Science with a graduate certification in Reference and User Services from Clarion University of Pennsylvania, where their thesis focused on misrepresentations of transgender resources in subject headings. 

Carina is an advocate for the prioritization of transgender voices in literature, academia, and library catalogs, and their paper “Transfeminism in Imogen Binnie’s Nevada” placed first in American Literary Criticism at the 2019 Sigma Tau Delta International English Honor Society Conference. Their fiction writing is aimed at young adults and highlights transhumanism, cultural critique, and rejection of gender roles and binaries. Carina currently works as an access services librarian and an educator in the fields of creative writing, critical theory, and information literacy for teens and tweens. In their free time, they enjoy tabletop gaming, cooking, and writing their fiction manuscripts.