What is Creative About Creative Writing? Doing Social Research Through Poetry and Fiction
In 2023, NCRM supported an innovation forum that explored the intersection of creative writing and social research. The forum, led by Professor Sophie Woodward from The University of Manchester, examined how poetry and fiction can be used as innovative methods for understanding and conveying social worlds. The events brought together writers, poets, sociologists and academics to explore the creative potential of writing in social research.
The forum consisted of a whole day in-person event in January of 2024 and a half-day online event in January of 2025. The first event, Poetic Methods, focused on poetic inquiry, including collective poetry writing, docu-poetics and poetry generated from qualitative data. The second event, Fiction, explored speculative fiction, metaphors, and object-based storytelling in sociology. Both events included hands-on sessions, spoken word performances and discussions on the ethical implications of using creative writing in research.
The forum successfully fostered interdisciplinary collaboration, with participants from sociology, anthropology, creative writing and literary criticism. Attendees engaged in creative writing exercises, shared reflections on their use of poetry and fiction in research, and discussed the impact of framing writing as data, poetry or fiction.
Outputs
The project resulted in several key outputs:
- Special interest network: The Creative Writing and Social Research Network was created for academics and writers to share interdisciplinary practice, and to stay updated and connected regarding any upcoming activity. The group was created by Charlotte Wetton and is administered by Thor Andresson. Join the network mailing list.
- Online tutorial: Charlotte Wetton is currently in the progress of creating an online NCRM online tutorial on creative writing and research.
- Training courses: NCRM training courses on poetic inquiry and community creative writing are in the early stages of development. To be notified if this course goes live, please email Thor Andresson: thor.andresson@manchester.ac.uk