Originally from Sweden, I first arrived in Australia after completing a degree in journalism. Hitchhiking around the continent for a year, the journey resulted in a journalistic book in Swedish about contemporary Australia. I emigrated in 1989.
I worked as a freelance photo journalist, foreign correspondent and staff reporter for Swedish press and national radio for 14-15 years, first specializing in international development and women and minority rights in South Asia and South-East Asia. After moving to Australia, I covered Australian politics, economy and society for Swedish media.
Discovering the holistic field research methods and grounded ethnographic analysis of social anthropology in the mid-1990s, I pursued a second career, completing a BA in Social Anthropology, a Master’s Degree in Applied Anthropology, and a PhD in Anthropology (2006). I have taught and supervised undergraduate, Honours, Masters and PhD students at anthropology departments at Stockholm University, the Australian National University and, most recently, at the University of Sydney.
I am currently working on a crime fiction trilogy project set mainly in the Australian central desert region.
Photo: Walking Kings Canyon, Watarrka National Park. © Roy Ottosson