Abstract:
The work we both do to incorporate poetry into our research is, of course, built on the work of many others over time (many of whom are in this book). In the last 30 years, qualitative research methods have changed a great deal and gained significant status (Denzin & Lincoln, 1999, 2000, 2011). In this, the field of qualitative inquiry and the study of research methods have been recognised as significant fields of study in and of themselves. Part of this sea change is the growing recognition that there are a diversity of ways to approach and represent qualitative research projects. In this, Denzin and Lincoln (2000), among others (Richardson, 1994, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2002; 2008; Leavy, 2016), have urged researchers to find alternative ways to inquire and represent research texts (Finley, 2011). Arts-based methods have thus emerged as one response to demands for more complex, nuanced, community-centred and creative approaches to research. As a result, researchers are now employing a wide range of creative research methods including narrative (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000; Webster & Mertover, 2007), dramatic performance (Spry, 2011), visual methods (Gauntlett & Holzwarth, 2006) and dance (Longley, 2016, 2017), as well as poetry (for example, Faulkner, 2007, 2009, 2016; Furman, Lietz, & Langer, 2006; Glesne,1997; Cahnmann, 2003; Lahman, & Richard, 2014). Such forms of expression are, of course, age-old, and indigenous scholars, elders and artists have always known the power of poetic expressions of knowledge; although these are rarely valued in academic texts