I provide context by referencing theory and practice in narrative medicine and current literary criticism around trauma plots.
This story explores childbirth-related trauma and postpartum mental health through the lens of a ‘good birth.’
"She has been so careful at work; she has had all of her shopping delivered for weeks, actually for months, now; she's even wiped down the items with bleach as they are delivered, and still does. How can this have happened?"
“Cold Snap” is about two disparate adults, caught in the tumult of abrupt weather change, caused by the accidental detonation of an experimental meteorological weapon.
"I wrote Asha’s story to give voice to all the women in rural Bangladesh who cannot speak out against their abusers or society."
Ethology is a highly fictionalized ethnographic account of my travels around Tanzania, East Africa during my teens.
J. Sumerau·
All ContentAutoethnographic Flash NonfictionAutoethnographic Literary FictionVolume 3, Issue 4 (2023)
··19 min readThis short story about a night in a shed is an attempt to encourage any reader to think about the stories that circulate within communities.
Missing A Beat examines the journey of two brothers as they attempt to leave behind a past marred by domestic violence but are presented with a choice that threatens the sibling bonds that have been their life raft.
This writing is based on storytelling, common in Mexican culture.
This piece of original short fiction contains plot elements based on my recent adventures hiking remote trails in Ecuador and Colorado.
Ulla-Maija Matikainen·
All ContentAutoethnographic Literary FictionAutoethnographic PoetryAutoethnographic WritingVolume 2, Issue 1 (2022)
··12 min read"A woman alone doesn’t belong to any male power or protection sphere. She can be kidnapped into fears and dreams."
In this 2nd of my Processing Parental Grief series, Calliandra receives a letter from her mother weeks after her death.
