autoethnographer: one who uses lived experience as evidence with which to explore cultural phenomena.
This piece of original short fiction contains plot elements based on my recent adventures hiking remote trails in Ecuador and Colorado.
Written by a white, cisgender, male yoga practitioner and newly qualified teacher from a working-class, Northern English background, this account seeks to elucidate upon how the issues noted may manifest.
I wrote “The Crevasse: A Love Letter” to help me grapple with confusing changes to the terrain of my life.
Leavy’s Writing and Publishing Qualitative Research is a comprehensive guide that navigates the intricate landscape of qualitative research from the writing phase to publishing.
Coping with Pet Bereavement: My Forever Love for My Beautiful Cat 'Timi' is definitely not a farewell; it is only a love letter for my beloved cat who got lost on January 15, 2023, days after a magnitude 5.6 earthquake hit southern Türkiye. Like my country, I was also shaken deeply, and like the buildings, my heart almost collapsed.
From all there is something to be learned, as the river itself has been victimized, has not escaped its own environmental terrorism.
The poems in this collection are a reflection on my zero waste aspirations (and the values behind the movement at large).
Story-worlds were magical—they transported me to different places where I’d meet new people, and learn about their lives in visceral ways.
In Part One, I situated my work within the context of the work of writers. Now, I’m situating my work within the context of women writers.
This autoethnographic narrative describes the growth and development I experienced once I found mentors who, despite my lack of “natural musical abilities” or “talent,” believed I could learn.
There’s also a larger goal underscoring my work. I aim to create a philosophy of the arts and a philosophy of love.
I’d take the past and make it straight, Even though it’s complicated, We’ve got time to start again, I don’t know if you can hear me…
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SPECIAL ISSUE 2024: PATRICIA LEAVY & SOCIAL FICTION
An Invitation to Story: "Everything in my life has shown me that stories matter. Sharing stories matters. Through stories we generate connection, resonance, empathy, reflection, discovery, learning, change, resistance, visibility. Storytelling is at the heart of my work. It’s also at the heart of autoethnography. I hope when you read my books and the contributions in this special issue that you’re inspired to think about how you might tell the stories of your research and your life." Dr. Patricia Leavy
LATEST POSTS
autoethnographer: one who uses lived experience as evidence with which to explore cultural phenomena.
“The AutoEthnographer is an award-winning, non-profit, open-access, peer-reviewed literary and arts magazine dedicated to presenting the creative side of autoethnography, a qualitative research method uniting ethnography and autobiography that utilizes lived experience as evidence with which to explore cultural phenomena." ISSN: 2833-1400
What is autoethnography? The AutoEthnographer's international team of editors offer definitions & suggested readings.
Readers can ask questions about autoethnography or invite an editor to speak to their group or classroom.
MISSION
THE AUTOETHNOGRAPHER is a digital magazine dedicated to creating a public, open-source space for creatives to share their personal stories of cultural experience. We aim to support emerging authors and artists, to promote cultural diversity and appreciation, and to celebrate creative expression as a vehicle for shared understanding and positive change.
MISSION
THE AUTOETHNOGRAPHER is a digital magazine dedicated to creating a public, open-source space for creatives to share their personal stories of cultural experience. We aim to support emerging authors and artists, to promote cultural diversity and appreciation, and to celebrate creative expression as a vehicle for shared understanding and positive change.
![](https://b3241464.smushcdn.com/3241464/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Screenshot-2024-02-11-234133.png?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1)
![](https://b3241464.smushcdn.com/3241464/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Screenshot-2024-02-11-234133.png?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1)
![](https://b3241464.smushcdn.com/3241464/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Screenshot-2024-02-11-234133.png?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1)
SPECIAL ISSUE 2024: PATRICIA LEAVY & SOCIAL FICTION
An Invitation to Story: "Everything in my life has shown me that stories matter. Sharing stories matters. Through stories we generate connection, resonance, empathy, reflection, discovery, learning, change, resistance, visibility. Storytelling is at the heart of my work. It’s also at the heart of autoethnography. I hope when you read my books and the contributions in this special issue that you’re inspired to think about how you might tell the stories of your research and your life." Dr. Patricia Leavy
AUTOETHNOGRAPHIC LITERARY NONFICTION
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AUTOETHNOGRAPHIC LITERARY FICTION
Visitation, an Autoethnodrama in One Act
In this autoethnographic play, a woman terminates a pregnancy without telling her husband.
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AUTOETHNOGRAPHIC POETRY
FEATURED POET: MILTON KARP
"My poems are not entirely mine. They belong to the people and events of my passage through life. For once the dam is breached its contents flow unabridged. - Milton Carp, poet at 91"
This piece is intended to give you a sense of the ways in which I use Low-Fat Love in the classroom and why just using it makes the world a better place.
Story-worlds were magical—they transported me to different places where I’d meet new people, and learn about their lives in visceral ways.
Leavy is more than the mother of the social fiction movement in the social sciences; she’s its fairy godmother.
A new call for submissions that celebrate, problematize, challenge, or illuminate the many meanings of "queer."
I wrote “The Crevasse: A Love Letter” to help me grapple with confusing changes to the terrain of my life.
These pieces explore through personal experience the cultural phenomena of migrant loss of identity and subordination, post colonialism, othering
The AutoEthnographer is excited to announce its new Call for Submissions, 2023 Special Issue: “Laughter”
What happens when a witch is black? This piece is a salute to the transformational beauty of cosplay & all the laughter it inspires.
This artwork is based on a startling and memorable encounter at the local vet while attempting to get Anaïs spayed.
"Combining autoethnography and artwork, Supreme Justice aims to reveal the persistence of institutionalized oppression of women through history."
"This essay on bodily autonomy specifically discusses abortion access and rights in the United States and Canada, and the politics that often follow."
This collection of poems is a glimpse into the lives lived on the margins, where the laws put in place to protect basic rights and bodily autonomy cease to apply.
Our future depends on readers like you.
$1 a month can help us reach our goals and continue to provide a platform for important voices and stories.
"Ongoing horrific events painstakingly filled my mind when I submerged into Dante’s Commedia Divina. Our tragedy with nature revealed itself to me in its deepest form."
"This autoethnographic poem is a question about the power of autoethnography in the face of the climate crisis. It is an expression of my dark fears, my depression that keeps me away from writing."
"As the world’s bird populations decline precipitously, will the many winged creatures we knew as children live only in the mists of memory?"
AUTOETHNOGRAPHIC WRITING
I provide context by referencing theory and practice in narrative medicine and current literary criticism around trauma plots.
I share real world examples of why I believe the trans community uses empathy as a powerful tool to combat transphobia and promote self-love.
"When I return to Sam’s place with the cheesecloth, I smell our “soup” pot. Shit. I envision the blotter headline: ECU Professor busted for marijuana. What a way to make my graduate mentors proud and to show success at this professor business."
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HAVE YOU HEARD?
We're podcasting!
Listen to The AutoEthnographer in the car or on the go and enjoy discussions with artists, authors, performers, and researchers from around the world. In our 20-minute episodes we examine how autoethnography can be utilized in diverse contexts, from marketing and coaching to painting and songwriting.
AUTOETHNOGRAPHIC MULTIMEDIA
How do creatives find joy in artistic performance as a form of black feminist autoethnography? Podcast & video.
"Dr. Nadine Khair discusses why autoethnography is essential to successful businesses in this latest podcast."
In The AutoEthnographer’s latest podcast, Marlen Harrison talks with Sandra Faulkner about collage and visual poetry.
"Award-winning artist, Suzanne Hughes, talks about autoethnography and painting. Suzanne is responsible for the cover art for our special issue based on climate change."
"I danced each morning with Pina Bausch. I became her pupil lifting my leg up in the air like a flamingo except feeling more awake than I’ve ever been."
"While living in Ecuador, I wrote “Home” which essentially is an homage to the “third-culture kid” phenomenon, when your parents are from another country than the one you grew up in."
IAANI AWARD WINNER
“A Seat at the Table” is the autoethnographic manifestation of my vulnerability, anger, and anguish, of my black feminist grit."
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Sign up for our seasonal newsletter, only four times a year.
Get updates about The AutoEthnographer direct to your inbox!
Sign up for our seasonal newsletter, only four times a year.
“Tired,” the titular poem and the collection at large, is an autoethnography looking at the cause of so much pain, so much fatigue. Anthropomorphizing the feeling of being tired gave me creative license to dramatize and explore the real experiences of needing a break...
These pieces explore through personal experience the cultural phenomena of migrant loss of identity and subordination, post colonialism, othering
This work of experimental poetry examines the interaction between the happy user of the open source format and the automated surface.
FEATURED POET: MILTON KARP
"My poems are not entirely mine. They belong to the people and events of my passage through life. For once the dam is breached its contents flow unabridged. - Milton Carp, poet at 91"
"Although I never planned it, I wrote a series of novels, Celestial Bodies, that have pierced my heart in a way nothing else ever has, changing me as a writer and as a person."
Today we're talking with the award-winning author, researcher, and performer, Shanita Mitchell about performance and autoethnography.
"One way to reach broader audiences is to embrace creative nonfiction and use storytelling as academic writing."
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Sign up for our seasonal newsletter, only four times a year.
NEWS, INTERVIEWS & REVIEWS
The Autoethnographer, an award-winning, non-profit, peer-reviewed, digital literary & arts magazine, invites you to submit your work.
"The AutoEthnographer is proud to announce that it has been selected by the United States Library of Congress for inclusion in their collections!"
In the following interview with award-winning author, Patricia Leavy, we discuss writing fiction and her new novel Hollyland.
AUTOETHNOGRAPHIC ESSAYS
NEWS, INTERVIEWS & REVIEWS
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![](https://b3241464.smushcdn.com/3241464/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/photo-of-laptop-glasses-and-earphones-by-Mauro-Segura.jpg?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1)
![](https://b3241464.smushcdn.com/3241464/wp-content/uploads/2022/10/photo-of-laptop-glasses-and-earphones-by-Mauro-Segura.jpg?lossy=2&strip=1&webp=1)
HAVE YOU HEARD?
We're podcasting!
Listen to The AutoEthnographer in the car or on the go and enjoy discussions with artists, authors, performers, and researchers from around the world. In our 20-minute episodes we examine how autoethnography can be utilized in diverse contexts, from marketing and coaching to painting and songwriting.
REFLECTIONS ON METHOD
SPECIAL ISSUE 2024: PATRICIA LEAVY & SOCIAL FICTION
SPECIAL ISSUE 2023-24: QUEER
SPECIAL ISSUE 2023: LAUGHTER
SPECIAL ISSUE 2022-23: BODILY AUTONOMY
Visitation, an Autoethnodrama in One Act
In this autoethnographic play, a woman terminates a pregnancy without telling her husband.
SPECIAL ISSUE 2022: CLIMATE CHANGE