Arts-Based Activism Through Collaborative Autoethnography: Creative Conversations That Can Change the World

Combining a series of interviews with creatives about how their work presents as activism with collaborative autoethnographic responses from the editors, this book demonstrates the power and evolution of autoethnography, as a form of both art and advocacy. With the interviews centring the work of artists, writers, a filmmaker and a printmaker as they challenges issues surrounding the environment, ageing, wellbeing, poverty, diversity and health, Jess Moriarty and Christina Reading put these ideas into a dialogue with a wide-variety of their own critical-creative responses, offering up methods of collaborative autoethnography and models for writers, students and practice-based researchers on how they can develop their own work as activism. Working to resist the criticism that autoethnography is inward-looking and narcissistic, Arts-Based Activism and Collaborative Autoethnography weaves together collective voices raised within the arts and activism that are more nuanced and multilayered than single voices alone. Engaging, readable and dynamic, this book is a champion of and an essential exploration of autoethnography, qualitative inquiry, social activism, arts-based scholarship and research.

Table of Contents:
Introduction Chapter 1. Health Conversation with Joanna Callaghan, Artist. Chapter 2. Environment Conversation with Stella Yarrow, Printmaker Chapter 3. Diversity Conversation with Michelle Williams Gamaker, Filmaker Chapter 4. Misogyny Conversation with Paulo Soto, Fine Artist Chapter 5. Ageing/Menopause Conversation with Akila Richards, Writer Chapter 6. Social Justice Conversation with Tanaka Mhishi, Writer Chapter 7. Collective voices Conclusion Index

About the Author :
Christina Reading is an independent artist and writer from the UK. In her practical work Christina articulates internal narratives and shared conversations based on her own experience and memories, incorporating references to other literary, mythical, archival, and poetic sources. She has published and exhibited widely on themes relating to creativity and autoethnography and her publications include Walking for Creative Recovery (2022) and Conversations on Creative Process, Methods, Research and Practice (2023) Jess Moriarty is Principal Lecturer in Creative Writing at the University of Brighton, UK, where she leads the Creative Writing MA and is Co-director of the Centre for Arts and Wellbeing. Jess is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy and has published extensively on autoethnography and creative writing pedagogy. Her previous publications include Authoethnographies from the Neoliberal Academy (co-editor, 2017), Walking for Creative Recovery (2019) and Conversations on Creative Process, Methods, Research and Practice (2023).