Last year was a big one. I spent around 15 months away from home, mostly in Iceland, for the purposes of study but also to rediscover my creative motivation. Below is a 2024 roundup of some of what’s been happening.
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While I have your attention, I’m starting a new project on Substack. It’s called ‘An Elsewhere Anthropologist’. It’s an experiment to explore the borderlands between anthropology and fiction, exploring how the weird, queer, and impossible shape our understanding of culture. Through fiction, field notes, and academic analysis, I document the liminal spaces where folklore meets fact, where speculation meets scholarship, and where the boundaries between the real and unreal blur. If you’re curious, sign up below.
The Elsewhere Anthropologist explores the borderlands between fiction and ethnography, unearthing hidden truths from literature, folklore, and the wild edges of human experience. From author and student anthropologist Christopher Marcatili.
Publications
“Survival Tips”, a short story, was included in my zine of ethnographic fiction, mentioned below. You can hear me reading it here.
“Grief for Others”, a dark short story, was published with Overland. Read it here.
“Still the Earth”, a fantasy short story, was published with the Translunar Travelers' Lounge. Read it here.
Three other pieces were accepted for publication but aren’t yet out. They are: “Traces”, “The Ruy Lopez Opening”, and “Tyrents of the Southern Sea”. Stay tuned for updates.
I also produced four experimental pieces and poems for the Hafnar.Z!ne series mentioned below.
Projects
Iceland in Other Words: A Zine of Ethnographic Fiction launched in December 2024. This was a zine I curated, edited, and produced. It includes works about everyday life in Iceland by 12 creatives living there. It also includes a photo series by me, called Lost in Reykjavik. The project was a fun and flexible way of exploring ethnographic knowledge and sharing it with a wider audience. More here.
The Hafnar.Z!nes were a series of zines produced at Hafnar.Haus. They were an experiment of communal DIY publishing and social design. Issue 1, released in Feb 2024, was the Issues issue, and the first one I got my hands on. Issue 2, Burnout, was the first I contributed to. By Issue 4 I was helping produce the series and by the end I was one of the team of two leading and producing these artefacts of art. More here.
Reykjavík Poetics is an ongoing event series in Reykjavík. It consists of the Reykjavík Poetics curated events and RVK Open, the open mic monthly events. It was a great privilege to be invited to be a Board member, to support about 15 events, build the website, and work as producer on two specific events:
Ós, Issue 7: Unspoken is the forthcoming issue of Ós - the Journal. Ós Pressan has been the only multivocal publisher in Iceland since it began in 2016. It’s somewhat-annual journal showcases the finest writing of voices in Iceland today. It continues to be a privilege to serve on the editorial committee. More here.
Readings and Presentations
Readings
I read some of my creative work:
Presentations
I presented some of my research:
'"The Language is the Dog Whistle”: Migration, Boundary-Making, and Gatekeeping in the Icelandic Writing Scene'. Paper and panel facilitation. Ráðstefna Þjóðarspegilsins 2024 Conference, Háskóli Íslands, Reykjavík. 1 November.
‘Standing Outside Looking In: Nordic Noir as a Window into Icelandic Euroscepticism & Sovereignty’. Panel presentation. EUPOP Conference 2024, Estonia. 2 July. More.
Tuesday Talks #6. Hafnar Haus, Reykjavík. 20 February. More here.
Anthropology Day 2024 Presentation. University of Iceland, Reykjavík. 16 February. More here.
In 2025
This is slightly cheating, since this is supposed to be a 2024 round-up, but already this month I also did the following:
Guested on a new podcast, Fellow Travellers, to present some of my research. The episode, called ‘Researching through participating with Christopher Marcatili’ was hosted by Josie Gaitens and was a wonderful chance to talk a little about my research interests and some of the activities covered in this email. Listen here.
‘Survival Tips’ and ‘Traces’ at Reykjavík Poetics #17: Happy New Year. Listen here. This event included all the board members of Reykjavík Poetics. You can hear some of the others on the team here.
Research
A few other announcements relating to my research include:
The forthcoming publication of a chapter, 'Standing Outside Looking In: Nordic Noir as a Window into Icelandic Euroscepticism and Sovereignty'. In Pop Goes the EU. Rowman & Littlefield (Lexington Press).
Another chapter currently under review, looking at the intersection of science fiction and anthropology. More on this soon.
This year has led to several exciting projects that I hope to announce in time in 2025.
Ellipsis Editing
My professional editing business is back in full swing. If you know anyone who needs professional copy editing or proofreading work done, get in touch. Slots are filling up.
Go to www.ellipsis-editing.com for more information.
Trickster’s Wake
In case you missed it, I produced a teaser trailer for my book manuscript, Trickster’s Wake, a couple of years ago. Animations were done by Luke Marcatili. Updates on the book will be made here.
Media Recommendations
I always love getting recommendations from people. So, to end this wrap-up, here’s a few from me from last year. Feel free to email me back with your own (or if you’re on Substack, comment below).
TV:
If you like anything weird and original, do yourself a favour and watch Scavengers’ Reign. A group of space travelers become stranded on an alien planet. They have to come to grips with the local fauna and flora to survive. It’s rare to see such a fully imagined and realised ecosystem in any story, let alone one not set on Earth.
I finished watching the final season of Barry. An unforgettably dark comedy about a hitman who wants to escape his life by becoming a Hollywood actor. Only four seasons, but each one hits harder than the last. I’ll miss it.
Hacks is an odd-couple dramedy about a cancelled Gen Z comedian who needs to find a new job and reluctantly ends up entangled with a famous comedian who’s done the same tired routines every other night in Las Vegas for a decade or more. Now between seasons 3 and 4, it’s a good time to get started.
I binge-watched the Last of Us on my return flights from Iceland to Australia. As someone who’s never been a fan of mushrooms, it’s nice to finally be vindicated. But what I love about the show most is the unlikely but emergent relationship between Joel and Ellie.
Speaking of weird, try Smiling Friends. You’ll either love it or hate it. I loved its bizarro world.
Music:
A friend of mine has a band called Roundstone, which is currently releasing songs from their upcoming album. Check them out.
I must have contributed a couple of thousand plays to the Spotify count for the Disco Elysium soundtrack this year, by Sea Power. Viva Revachol!
Films:
Finally saw the 1984 classic Paris, Texas at the Reykjavík International Film Festival. With stunning cinematography and Harry Dean Stanton's unforgettable performance, the film is a mesmerising tale of loss, redemption, and the vast emotional distances between people who once loved each other.
At one of Hafnar.Haus’s excellently curated film nights I also finally watched Hereditary. Creepy, beautiful, maybe even a little funny, this is one of those contemporary horror films you have to see.
There was something simple and beautiful about Werner Herzog’s 1974 documentary, The Great Ecstasy of Woodcarver Steiner. Champion ski-jumper Walter Steiner’s epic jumps are caught in slow motion, capturing humanity's desire to transcend physical boundaries. Commentary and analysis are light on in this film, giving it a sense of being more lie an ethnographic film than documentary.
That’s it from me for now. Until next time.