Introducing the Author
Awakening her senses in the Botanical Garden, the weekend after the book "Fictional Worlds" was submitted for publication.
Lily Alexander (L.A. Alexander), Ph.D. in Anthropology and Comparative Cultural Studies.
Lily is a writer and scholar in narratology, media and comparative mythology, teaching in New York City. She has publications in the United States, Canada, France, Israel, Italy, Russia, and Netherlands. Dr. Alexander gave invited talks at Harvard, Columbia, University of Michigan, University of Jerusalem, and presented at the universities of Utrecht, Edinburg, Seville, Marseille, and Paris. She has been teaching in New York since 2003, affiliated with NYU and CUNY.
You may find more information on her publications on the pages ABOUT and CHRONOS & TOPOS of this website.
Lily has worked in the theater and media industries since she was eighteen, and has earned degrees in drama, film, anthropology, and comparative cultural studies, with an emphasis on storytelling. She benefited from the Immensely helpful discussions on semiotics, symbolic studies, and modeling systems in several scholarly working groups and discursive communities from Los Angeles to Toronto. Lily has also written for the media and provided practical help to the authors with the story and screenplay development (see page FOR WRITERS).
A recipient of academic awards, since 2003 Lily has taught on the East Coast, at New York University and City University of New York. Her courses include world mythology and folklore, comparative narrative studies, screenwriting, film, literature, mythopoesis, videogames, world-building and communication. Her diverse experiences envelop traveling and studying narrative cultures in many countries and conducting research in the fields of symbolic anthropology, interactive storytelling, and international media.
Lily is an author of Fictional Worlds: Traditions in Narrative & The Age of Visual Culture (2013). This 4-part volume introduces an anthropological theory of narrative and explores the interactive ritual roots of media genres. The far-reaching impact of The Odyssey and the symbolic journey-worlds on global culture and interactive narrative is among the themes of this study. In addition to a print volume (four books under one cover), this work is available as the sets of Kindle books and iBooks (new editions are forthcoming).
The project on fictional worlds and genres has grown from a doctoral thesis and a series of talks at MIT and the "Media in Transition" conference series, where the participants have greatly benefited from insightful and fruitful discussions. The very premise of the inspiring MIT forums, organized by Henry Jenkins, was based on the concern for the content of interactive media, and the hope that richly developed storyworlds would replace the trend of simplistic and violent videogames. (Following the discussions opened in 1997 by Hamlet on the Holodeck by Janet Murray and other media scholars). Lily considers herself fortunate to be part of the working group on FWB, engaging with the colleagues who are enthusiastic about this interdisciplinary subject.
Many enriching experiences of scholarly dialogues have been associated with international conferences, such as organized by Henry Jenkins and his team at MIT, where she presented her ideas on fictional worlds in several talks (i.e. "Where is the Auteur? Exotopia Revisited: The Author Inside, Outside and Inside Out," 2005); and Toronto biannual conferences on media studies, where Lily also presented several papers, including on laughter in 2000, titled "Tricksters, Ritual Fools and Upside-Down Worlds: Unconventional Wisdom in Media Culture."
Recent publications by Dr. Alexander include seven articles in the renowned Routledge book series “Imaginary Worlds”, which examines narrative systems, mythopoesis, world-building, and the possibilities of interactive media. Lily’s new work “Alone! Islands of Imagination as Utopias, Dystopias, Parables and Riddles” is forthcoming (2026). Previous volumes include her articles: “Journey Loops and Vicious Circles” in Navigating Imaginary Worlds (2025); “Mythopoetic Suspense, Eschatology and Misterium” in Exploring Imaginary Worlds (Routledge, 2020); "Mythology," "The Hero's Journey," and "Genres" in The Routledge Companion to Imaginary Worlds (2018); "Fictional World-Building as Ritual, Drama, and Medium" in Revisiting Imaginary Worlds (Routledge, 2017). Series editor is Mark J.P. Wolf.
The publications on the interactive storytelling and world-building theory further develop the ideas of the Fictional Worlds project, taking them in the new direction. If of interest, see the full texts of the Routledge “Imaginary Worlds” volumes (print and digital) by a group of inspiring authors in the bookstore, amazon.com and the libraries.
Lily Alexander is grateful to the talented editor Diane Scheinman and to other supportive and inspiring figures, including the extraordinary Henry Jenkins (MIT/USC); the great structuralist and semiotician V. V. Ivanov (UCLA); the enthusiastic and visionary Mark Wolf, and an array of fascinating scholars and writers, too many to mention, whom she has met online, at conferences the world over, and in the New York academic community.
* * *
Email: fictionalworlds.contact (at) gmail.com
Back to MENU