Alone in a Group: Silence and Invisibility in the Academy

The power of poetry in/as research and the effectiveness and impact of poetic inquiry, specifically within the scope of exploring marginalisation and resistances are undisputed. As part of the Practice As Research network, Dr Nicole Brown and Áine McAllister have established a “Poetic Inquiry” group that allows for creative exchanges, experimentation with form and content and a forum for exploring Poetry As Research Methodologies.
For the Symposium 2022 the Poetry As Research collective proposes a poetry-reading-cum-panel to present outcomes of the group’s poetic inquiry into “Silence and Invisibility in the Academy”. The presentation begins with group members performing poems that have been collaboratively developed. These are then used to explore and theorise the practicalities of poetic inquiry, and how Poetry As Research may offer opportunities for developing deeper understanding of commonly encountered experiences in particular feeling silenced or invisible in the academy. We specifically focus on how a dialogic process of writing enables us to make sense of experiences and to amplify otherwise silenced and marginalised voices whilst remaining true to our individual and collective selves. We will highlight practical and methodological choices and their effect on the writers and
their audiences before concluding the presentation with a reflection on the relationship between and boundaries of poetic inquiry, autoethnographic explorations, Practice As Research and commonalities in our experience(s) of being poetic inquirers in the academy.