Ethno S cripts ZEITSCHRIFT FÜR AKTUELLE ETHNOLOGISCHE STUDIEN How to write? Experiences, challenges and possibilities of ethnographic writing eISSN: 2199-7942 Volume 23 Issue 1 I 2021 Julia Pauli No Magic! Teaching Ethnographic Writing Ethnoscripts 2021 23 (1): 166-179 eISSN 2199-7942 Universität Hamburg Institut für Ethnologie Edmund-Siemers-Allee 1 (West) D-20146 Hamburg Tel.: 040 42838 4182 E-Mail: IfE@uni-hamburg.de http://www.ethnologie.uni-hamburg.de Dieses Werk ist lizenziert unter einer Creative Commons Licence 4.0 International: Namensnennung - Weitergabe unter gleichen Bedingungen. Publisher: Abstract In this essay, I refect on my experiences in teaching ethnographic writing to graduate anthropol- ogy students over the last decade. After years of experimenting with different course formats and ethnographic exercises, the anthropology department in Hamburg now offers two courses on ethnographic writing before feldwork and one course after students have returned from the feld. The frst course, taken before students conduct their master’s feldwork, focuses on reading ethnographies. It draws on John van Maanen’s (1988 [2011]) Tales of the Field to explore differ - ent writing styles and guides students to imitate these styles in different writing exercises. The second preparatory course introduces students to ethnographic writing through the observation of everyday interactions. Students observe, take notes, and write ethnographic narratives about visits to a playground, an elevator ride, or lunchtime in the university cafeteria. When students re- turn from their master’s feldwork, they fnally participate in the ‘Ethnographic Writing Workshop’. Here students write and revise key ethnographic scenes, dialogues, and portraits derived from their feldwork. This set of ethnographic writing courses encourages students to read (more) eth- nographies, refect on writing styles, and work on their own writing in groups and by themselves. With this essay, I want to initiate a dialogue about different approaches to teaching ethnographic writing.