...Christopher N. Poulos This essay is an autoethnography about why anyone might write autoethnography. It proceeds in a series of “takes.” Each take offers a slightly different set of motivations for writing autoethnography, or at least for why I do it, and by extension, maybe, why you might choose...

... they are not insignificant and are worthy of humanization. Writing about one’s experiences helps them heal from their painful past and find meaning in life. Three of Emily Dickinson’s poems have also been analyzed with regard to the mental distress represented in each, and the author presents three of their own poems...

... frameworks tied to heteronormativity, affect, shame, grief, and liminality. Inspired by Sara Ahmed’s work on how physical affect can “stick” one’s self to oppressive cultural mechanisms, the author links heteronormativity, shame, and grief to her writing, and names the process “sticky grief.” As both...

... to encourage the bereaved reader and support their grief writing. The essay concludes by challenging assumptions of U.S. culture’s “grief illiteracy,” with a call for white writers, in particular, to interrogate the social scripts and systems of power and privilege manifest in their grief communication...

...Shahd Alshammari This article uses personal narrative and embodied experiences as autoethnographic strategies to explore the grief of losing a companion animal. It draws on my experiences as a disabled academic who continues to teach and navigate the terrain of writing. Losing my dog, Flake, has...