Collaborative Poetics: Realising the potential of collaborative arts-based research

The Collaborative Poetics method developed over a series of individual projects, evolving an innovative means to harness subjective, lived-experience and bring this added value to the process of sharing expertise.

The method harnesses the skills and knowledge of diverse groups to produce innovative, creative pieces which enrich our understanding of social issues and the lived experience of these issues, helping communicate this new knowledge in engaging, accessible ways.

Researching discrimination through poetry

The first pilot project, 'Researching discrimination through poetry' was carried out in the summer of 2016 at McGill University’s Participatory Cultures Lab, working with seven young spoken word poets over an intensive six-week period, to explore issues around prejudice and discrimination.

The co-researchers were trained in qualitative research methods by Helen Johnson and coached in poetry performance/writing by experienced, local artist-educators, Cat Kidd, Deanna Smith, Tanya Evanson and Chris Masson. The co-researchers’ experiences were illustrated and elucidated in a series of poetic autoethnographic texts, which were disseminated in a chapbook, a spoken word performance, and a series of video poems.

The pilot focused on initial development of the ‘collaborative poetics’ method, in which poets and social scientists worked together as a ‘research collective’ to produce creative texts.

Through this we harnessed the skills and knowledge of both these groups to produce innovative, creative pieces which enrich our understanding of social scientific issues and help us to communicate this new knowledge in engaging, accessible ways.

The approach focused on expounding the subjective, lived experiences of co-researchers, and, in doing so, harnessed a third base of expertise – that of personal experience.

The pilot project furthered the pursuit of a methodology that aimed to:
> use spoken word poetry to create social-scientifically informed poems which explore lived experiences and understandings of discrimination
> develop the use of poetry as a research tool, exploring ways in which poets and social scientists can work together collaboratively to elucidate personal experiences and inform positive social change.

The project findings and method were explored and disseminated through a live spoken word show, a poetry chapbook, symposia, workshops and online teaching materials. Future planned outputs include video poems and conference presentations.

Partners for the pilot project were Matt Shi, Amy Iliza, Ellana Blacher, Emily Carson-Apstein, Xander Macaulay-Rettino, Inara Lalani, Simon Banderob in partnership with Professor Claudia Mitchell and McGill University’s Participatory Cultures Lab.

Realising the potential of collaborative, arts-based research

The development of the method came with the ISRF-funded project 'Realising the potential of collaborative, arts-based research' (2018-19).

The development enabled two core aspects to be achieved:

1. An inaugural collaborative poetics conference, 'The Carnival of Invention'

Held on 15 June 2018 at the University of Brighton, the 'Carnival of Invention' featured performances, debates, discussion, presentations, workshops, networking events and more from academics, artists and community practitioners - with representatives from all of these groups leading sessions.

The focus of the event was on discussing, performing and learning about collaborative and participatory arts-based research and artistic interventions which aim for social change/social justice.

The Carnival of Invention aimed:
> to explore, showcase and develop collaborative, arts-based research, with a particular focus on the collaborative poetics method
> to act as a site for community groups, artists and academics to connect, sharing ideas, knowledge, skills and contacts
> to promote, cultivate and develop the collaborative poetics network

2. Network and resource pack development

This centred around the development, piloting and evaluation of a flexible, robust and accessible collaborative poetics resource pack.
The pack included mixed media, explanatory resources and training materials about Collaborative Poetics, developed through a series of action-orientated collaborative workshops with an inter-disciplinary working group of co-researchers including: scholars from the social sciences, arts, humanities and business; independent arts practitioners; and representatives from local government and third sector groups.

The workshops were supported by an external pilot of the resources with two divergent groups: families affected by substance abuse issues andexecutive coaches.

The Network and Resource Pack Development aimed:
> to produce resource packs which enable collaborative poetics to be applied effectively, disseminating these freely/widely
> to identify the potential transferability of collaborative poetics into new business and community contexts
> to gain insights into effective collaborative working across wide-ranging disciplines, fields and sectors.

Co-researchers for the Carnival of Invention and the resource pack were: Helen Johnson, University of Brighton (Principal Investigator); Isilda Almeida-Harvey, East Sussex County Council; Polly Blake, independent arts practitioner; Ali Brumfitt, independent arts practitioner, coach and consultant; Daren Britt, University of Brighton; Kerensa Bushell, University of Brighton; Margaret Chapman-Clarke, University of East London; E I Coaching and Consulting; Mary Darking, University of Brighton;  Ceri Davies, University of Brighton; Jenny Fennessy, University of Brighton; Kate Fox, independent arts practitioner; Tom Hines, Audio Active; Jess Moriarty, University of Brighton; David Norbury, Group Change Consulting; Alexia Papamichail; Jo Parker, Young Oasis; Carol Rivas, University College London; Deborah Stainforth, University of Brighton; Carl Walker, University of Brighton; Katherine Wimpenny, Coventry University; Sandie Woods, London South Bank University

Collaborative Poetics was founded in a promising National Centre for Research Methods-funded pilot at McGill University, which used poetry to enrich understandings of discrimination experiences (Johnson et al, 2017 a,b). It is a transformative, participatory, arts-based research method, which draws on expertise from artists and academics to facilitate participatory research.

Co-researchers use the approach to explore and illuminate real-world social problems, in ways which are theoretically/methodologically robust, innovative and accessible/meaningful to a wide audience.

Collaborative poetics has been used to build resilience within communities, advocate for social justice, enhance knowledge/skill sharing between fields, and provide an innovative teaching tool.

The project impact was evaluated through: focus groups, interviews and emails with poet co-researchers and other project participants; informal feedback from the spoken word show and chapbook audiences; and written qualitative feedback on talks and workshops aimed at disseminating the method.

A thematic analysis of the data took place. Findings indicate that the project achieved a range of outcomes for co-researchers, including:
> providing co-researchers with a sense of ownership and empowerment around their discrimination experiences
> enabling co-researchers to build a range of skills related to poetry writing and performance, and to social scientific research
> enabling co-researchers to develop and articulate their thinking around discrimination, embedding their experiences within broader social scientific frameworks and sociopolitical contexts
> encouraging co-researchers to challenge incidences of discrimination which they encounter in their daily lives.

Feedback from the spoken word show indicated that the poems were viewed as powerful and thought provoking. In addition, the chapbooks were widely disseminated, and have been used in a variety of contexts, including as teaching tools in schools and universities. The collaborative poetics method has attracted interest from academics, artists and community organisations.

Publications and outputs

Johnson, H., Macaulay-Rettino, X., Banderob, S., Lalani,I., Carson-Apstein, E. and Blacher, E. (In press) A rose by any other name? Developing a method of ‘collaborative poetics.’ Qualitative Research in Psychology

Johnson, H., Carson-Apstein, E., Banderob, S. and Macualay-Rettino, X. (2017). 'You Kind of Have to Listen to me': Researching Discrimination through Poetry. Forum Qualitative Social Research/Forum Qualitative Sozialforschung, 18 (2).

The Struggle is Real. Spoken word show at Mainline Theatre, Montreal in August 2016

A Rose by Any Other Name? Using Poetry as a Tool for Collaborative Research. Talk at University of Brighton, 14 November 2016.

Collaborative poetics workshop. First run at University of Brighton on 6 January 2017. Second run at University of Brighton on 13 April 2017.

'An Artist, a Participant, and a Social Scientist Walk Into a Bar... Creating Collaborative Poetic Autoethnographies,' workshop and talk at the Voicing Experience Conference at University of Sussex. Friday 16th June 2017.

‘You Kind of Have to Listen to Me’ – Chapbook of poetic autoethnographies,