autoethnographer: one who uses lived experience as evidence with which to explore cultural phenomena.
Atlas Markers: An Emerging Autoethnography Author’s Memo Atlas Markers n is largely...
Jill Boyles·
All ContentAutoethnographic Art & MultimediaAutoethnographic Literary NonfictionVolume 4, Issue 2 (2024)
··4 min readA Private Life in Rural Idaho Challenges Living in Rural Areas Living...
This piece works to contextualize aging in the queer community, the complexities of developing trends in spectacle versus intimacy, the depth and shallow natures that are found in performance, as well as the fear and hope that can be found as a queer person.
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.
Christine Sleeter·
All ContentAutoethnographic EssaysCelebrating Dr. Patricia Leavy's Social Fiction 2024Reflections on Method
··23 min readChristine Sleeter writes about Dr. Patricia Leavy's new genre, Sleeter's own books and her reflections on the social fiction series.
The focus of this piece is to highlight and celebrate the asexual and aromantic community and what it means to exist outside of the expectation to be partnered.
Michael: Tesserae 1 is part of a series written about a two-year community arts fellowship I had with a Baltimore City public middle school and surrounding communities to demonstrate the power of art for community organizing.
As two authors/playwrights exploring this small island on the East Coast of Canada, we write to share our own experiences and perspectives.
Through these reflections on heritage, I delve into being a child of parents who immigrated from the Bronx to a suburban lifestyle.
MILK, ANTHOLOGIES, HORSES, & JOUISSANCE contained work as a meta-performance of the idea of texts passing through other texts.
In this piece, a queer university student from China reflects on his understandings of sexual and ethnic/national identities as he moves from China to the UK to study.
This poem, entitled "Work Out," is about how I dealt with 2020. It's a writing exercise I didn't realize I needed to do.
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
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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.
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
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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.
Laurel Richardson and U. Melissa Anyiwo writes the introduction to this special issue celebrating Dr. Patricia Leavy’s work.
Christine Sleeter writes about Dr. Patricia Leavy's new genre, Sleeter's own books and her reflections on the social fiction series.
I explore the intersection of queer identity and popular culture through the lens of my adolescent crush on rock legend Tina Turner.
"My Old Kentucky Homo," highlights my failure to assimilate into the community in which I still live, fourteen years later.
Nothing prepared me for the xenophobia and homophobia I would encounter in Italy. No one warned me how to avoid becoming their victim
This artwork is based on a startling and memorable encounter at the local vet while attempting to get Anaïs spayed.
"Give Me a Strawberry Cockroach" is the first article in our 2023 special issue on laughter and tells a story of Japanese language learning and performance.
What this essay tries to capture is both the wonder and the inherent horror in potty training.
In this story I shifted my attention to the young woman –a nurse or a volunteer– who sat beside me and held my hand throughout abortion.
"Damned," the first publication in The AutoEthnographer's Bodily Autonomy issue, is the product of my confused reflection and internal conversations with the culture that raised me."
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.
"This autoethnographic poem resembles a wave: coming, going, history, hereafter...an endless exchange."
"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
"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?"
"We began this autoethnographic essay thinking about the love the teachers have for their students."
"Have you ever crossed the desert in a circus train? I took such a detour—by choice— in 1978 when I hung up my pointe shoes to ride an elephant named Peggy."
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
Today we're talking with the award-winning author, researcher, and performer, Shanita Mitchell about performance and autoethnography.
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."
This artwork is based on a startling and memorable encounter at the local vet while attempting to get Anaïs spayed.
What happens when a witch is black? This piece is a salute to the transformational beauty of cosplay & all the laughter it inspires.
Today we're talking with the award-winning author, researcher, and performer, Shanita Mitchell about performance and autoethnography.
IAANI AWARD WINNER
“A Seat at the Table” is the autoethnographic manifestation of my vulnerability, anger, and anguish, of my black feminist grit."
Get updates about The AutoEthnographer direct to your inbox!
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.
"A woman alone doesn’t belong to any male power or protection sphere. She can be kidnapped into fears and dreams."
Poet Anne McCrary Sullivan discusses her latest book Learning Calabar, Notes from a Poet’s Year in Nigeria with editor Michelle Reale.
“Woken Word” was born as my inner voice was awakening and the world, ironically was becoming “woke” while simultaneously retreating into isolation.
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"
Writing fiction allows me to document reality and to reimagine it, just as we can always reimagine ourselves. And that is why we need stories.
"My thesis began to unfold after doing some research on my final topic idea about Tolkien’s world, female characters, female gamers, and the stereotype that females are the love interests or damsels in distress. I chose autoethnography because it allowed me to add that personal angle to the paper because I am a female writer, reader, and gamer."
How do creatives find joy in artistic performance as a form of black feminist autoethnography? Podcast & video.
Get updates about The AutoEthnographer direct to your inbox!
Sign up for our seasonal newsletter, only four times a year.
NEWS, INTERVIEWS & REVIEWS
"This journal is the culmination of my life’s work as a writing teacher, writer, and farmer. In the pages of this journal, you will find coverage for everything from raising chickens to jam recipes to poetry about farming and Nature."
"The AutoEthnographer is proud to announce that it has been selected by the United States Library of Congress for inclusion in their collections!"
Readers can ask questions about autoethnography or invite an editor to speak to their group or classroom.
AUTOETHNOGRAPHIC ESSAYS
NEWS, INTERVIEWS & REVIEWS
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