Autoethnographic Writing

Whether short-form or long-form, personal memoir or speculative fiction, The AutoEthnographer seeks to publish your evocative expressions of the cultural made personal.

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Fragrance Cultures: The Making of a Perfume Historian

Elena Vosnaki·

All Content Autoethnographic Essays Autoethnographic Writing Volume 1, Issue 2 (2021)

·November 26, 2021·15 min read

"Because I was so immersed in both history, bound in good-smelling leather, no less, and in beautiful and evocative little bottles around me as playthings, I guess it needed no further prompting. It was within my blood before I could think about what I wanted to do with my life!"

Photos of marijuana leaves and cookies by Nataliya Vaitkevich for Pexels

Autoethnographic Literary Nonfiction: Cooking with Cannabis

Sandra L. Faulkner·

All Content Autoethnographic Literary Nonfiction Autoethnographic Writing Volume 1, Issue 2 (2021)

·November 20, 2021·19 min read

"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."

Photo of perfume bottle by Saman Taheri for Unsplash.jpg

Fragrance Cultures: The Making of a Perfume Critic, Part 1

Marlen Harrison·

All Content Autoethnographic Essays Autoethnographic Writing Volume 1, Issue 2 (2021)

·October 3, 2021·18 min read

"As fragrance, and perfume in particular, has played a major role in the shaping of my writer’s voice, and participation in cultures of fragrance has had a major impact upon my identity, it is impossible to situate myself outside of these cultures. It is because of this privilege of “insider identity” within the global fragrance community and my natural inclination towards narrative research that I turned to autoethnography."

Photo of graduates by Jane Carmona for Unsplash

Autoethnographic Literary Nonfiction: Breaking Personal Boundaries, My Path to the PhD

Nadine Khair·

All Content Autoethnographic Literary Nonfiction Autoethnographic Writing Volume 1, Issue 2 (2021)

·September 24, 2021·7 min read

"When I was first accepted into the PhD by research program in the UK, I had mixed feelings, mainly because I was about to pursue a career that I didn’t have the heart for, and partially because I would need to explore yet another new culture, country, and environment."

Autoethnographic Essay: The Minority in American Literature

Olivia M. Ojeda·

All Content Autoethnographic Essays Autoethnographic Writing Volume 1, Issue 1 (2021)

·September 16, 2021·5 min read

"I have personally been that teenager, marking down “white” on a school application, hesitating to answer when an Anglo-American asked me “what are you?”, and leaving those experiences with a deeper sense of displacement."

Republic-of-Gilead-Flag-2-by-Icewizie-for-Wikimedia-copy-1

Jay & June, Part II: Under His Eye

Jacob Meadows·

All Content Autoethnographic Writing Volume 1, Issue 1 (2021)

·September 14, 2021·4 min read

"If abortion can be banned, largely due to Christian beliefs, what is to stop an overturning of the legalization of gay marriage or the disestablishment of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell?” If The Handmaid’s Tale taught me anything, it is to never believe that I am truly safe, untouchable."

Republic of Gilead Flag by Icewizie for Wikimedia

Jay and June: A Walk in Gilead

Jacob Meadows·

All Content Autoethnographic Writing Volume 1, Issue 1 (2021)

·September 7, 2021·5 min read

“What if I were Offred? What if I was a handmaid or a gender traitor living in Gilead?”

Autoethnographic Literary Nonfiction: The Reluctant Feminist – My Personal Relationship with Two Women Named Emily

Jen Leire·

All Content Autoethnographic Literary Nonfiction Autoethnographic Writing Volume 1, Issue 1 (2021)

·September 2, 2021·15 min read

"For me, being a feminist simply means I am a strong, independent woman who has ideas and thoughts of her own; but it also means something else, which is an idea that confuses even me. I mean, how could I be a feminist when I am also a conservative woman?"

Illustration of person looking at a smartphone by CarlosPX on Unsplash

Autoethnographic Literary Nonfiction: Political Correctness – The Dilemma of The Young

Tala Toubassi·

All Content Autoethnographic Literary Nonfiction Autoethnographic Writing Volume 1, Issue 1 (2021)

·August 27, 2021·7 min read

"For the first time since my adolescence, I am recognizing that I don’t have to believe what everyone believes, nor do I have to base my morals on faceless strangers who don’t know who I am, or what my experiences are."

Photo of man sitting in front of projected illustration of dying woman

Multimedia Autoethnography: “Drifting,” an Exploration of Sibling Loss

William Doan·

All Content Autoethnographic Art & Multimedia Autoethnographic Writing Volume 1, Issue 1 (2021)

·August 5, 2021·7 min read

"I'm not exactly sure when I decided to make a performance piece about my sister's traumatic brain injury and death. In fact, I'm not sure there ever was a single moment of decision. Her story had become public in many ways, from online care sites to prayer chains to social media posts from family and friends. Her story was being performed out in the world before I started telling it."

Photo of crying child by Marco Albuquerque for Unsplash

Flash Nonfiction: The Decision to Medicate

Gianina Ainsley Romito·

All Content Autoethnographic Flash Nonfiction Autoethnographic Writing Volume 1, Issue 1 (2021)

·July 10, 2021·3 min read

"We were constantly in fear of her hitting or pushing a friend, destroying a friend's toy, or throwing a block at someone’s head. We started to isolate ourselves because we were embarrassed of how our child acted around others."

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Recipes of Life: How Kitchens Preserve Intergenerational Narratives

A Poet Investigates Privilege During Life in Nigeria

Queer Adolescence Revisited: On Tina Turner and Finding Home

Autoethnographic Poem: A Blue Transhistoric

The Pandemic Nature Project, Filmed Vignettes of Life During COVID

From the Bodily Autonomy Special Issue: This Machine Kills Babies

Bodily Autonomy: A Fetus for a Fetus

From the Bodily Autonomy Special Issue: This Machine Kills Babies

The Year of Sluttery: Quick Notes to My Many Lovers

Technicolor Third Space: Why Did We Develop the AutoEthnographer?

Little Red: The Truth About Growing Up Queer And South-Asian

The Twerking Academic on Black Hair: How Deep Is Your Love?

What Is Autoethnography? How Can I Learn More?

The Call of Otherness: Fear & Awe

The Voice’s Standpoint in Creative Expressions: An Artist’s Perspective

What Is Autoethnography? How Can I Learn More?

Life in Okinawa Under the American Military

Autoethnographic Essay: The Unbearable Triteness of Being (Middle Class)

Storytelling as Academic Writing: How to Embrace Creative Nonfiction

Ten Powerful Poems by Albanian Poets and Their Translations

Autoethnographic Writing

Fragrance Cultures: The Making of a Perfume Historian

Autoethnographic Literary Nonfiction: Cooking with Cannabis

Fragrance Cultures: The Making of a Perfume Critic, Part 1

Autoethnographic Literary Nonfiction: Breaking Personal Boundaries, My Path to the PhD

Autoethnographic Essay: The Minority in American Literature

Jay & June, Part II: Under His Eye

Jay and June: A Walk in Gilead

Autoethnographic Literary Nonfiction: The Reluctant Feminist – My Personal Relationship with Two Women Named Emily

Multimedia Autoethnography: “Drifting,” an Exploration of Sibling Loss

Flash Nonfiction: The Decision to Medicate

What Is Autoethnography? How Can I Learn More?

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