Mandy Haggith

What is poetic inquiry?

Added at 19:30 on 24 November 2024

Poetic inquiry is a research method that uses poetry in one or more stages of a project. My purpose when I use it is to try to ensure that I am taking a holistic and creative approach to my inquiry, blending thought and emotion seamlessly, paying close attention to the details of language and making new knowledge that is as beautifully expressed as possible. 

Poetry is a powerful tool that can play a useful role at any stage of a project:

• thinking about the design of a project
• giving participants stimulation 
• getting participants to create poems, either individually or as a group
• compiling data (words from participants)
• analysing data (e.g. making poetry out of an interview transcript to distil its essence)
• presenting findings in an appealing way
• reflecting on processes and findings at any stage of a project
• disseminating the findings or results of a project. 

I use poetry in all these ways, selecting, for each project, what will work best for that project.