Announcing the 2026 Atelier Authors
Edited by Kevin Lewis O’Neill, Atelier is a book series in anthropology that takes a ground-up approach to the acquisition and publication of new ethnographic works. Curating a cohort of scholars committed to the idea that ethnographic writing is itself a form of intellectual work, Atelier enables collaboration at each stage of a book’s development, from the earliest draft through publication, with constructive engagement from peers and publishers.
The University of California Press is delighted to announce the 2026 cohort of Atelier! This year’s authors are Aalyia Sadruddin (Wellesley College), Kamala Russell (University of Chicago), and Naor Ben-Yehoyada (Columbia University). Their projects take ethnographic inquiry in strikingly different directions: from elderhood and the long aftermath of violence in Rwanda, to sociality and ethical life amid infrastructural transformation in Oman, to criminalization and the ongoing struggle over the meaning of the Mafia in Sicily.
Aalyia Sadruddin’s Aging in the Land of Lost Time follows a generation of Rwandan women who have lived through social revolution, civil war, and the genocide against the Tutsi and now find themselves inhabiting an elderhood they never expected to reach. The book asks what decades of upheaval look like from the vantage point of lives that have continued beyond them.
Kamala Russell’s The Other Side of Interaction: The Feeling of Being in Dhofar, Oman examines how dramatic infrastructural development has transformed practices of visiting, hospitality, and social encounter in rural Oman. It explores how experiences of visibility, proximity, and exposure to others become central to the ethical work of living in a changing social world.
Naor Ben-Yehoyada’s Criminalization as Process: Mafia Forensics and the Righting of Past Wrongs in Southwest Sicily examines what happens after the Mafia has been successfully criminalized. Following criminal cases and investigations in western Sicily, the book asks how people continue to pursue justice and historical truth when the meaning and accusatory force of “Mafia” itself have become objects of dispute.
Together, these three projects exemplify Atelier’s commitment to ambitious ethnography as a mode of inquiry. We are thrilled to welcome Aalyia, Kamala, and Naor as the 2026 Atelier authors.