Ethnographic fiction for writing and research in cultural geography

This article discusses the relevance of one form of ethnography, ethnographic fiction, for cultural geographers who are interested in the intersection of geographical ethnography and creative writing. Ethnographic fiction aims to evoke cultural experience and sense of place using literary techniques to craft conventional ethnographic materials-interviews, participant observation, fieldnotes, photographs-into a compelling story. The discussion presented here is intended for cultural geographers who wish to begin experimenting with this type of creative writing in their ethnographic work. To this end, we introduce a set of literary techniques, assessment criteria, and collaboration strategies from ethnographic fiction that we hope will expand the scope and potential of geographical ethnography. This is not a comprehensive how to guide for ethnographic fiction, nor is it a call for better writing in cultural geography, but rather an introduction to the genre and some of the techniques we found helpful in our own experience.