Becoming a researcher: An auto-ethnographic account of a doctoral researcher re-presented in poetry

Abstract

Poetry creates new ways of knowing and is increasingly being used in qualitative research. Although few researcher-poets integrate poetry as the primary method for their inquiry, many researchers use poetry to synthesise and re-present data. In this paper, I establish the importance of reflexivity and use poetry to re-present my experience of becoming a researcher. Drawing upon my experience as a doctoral researcher, I explore my fear of “non-production”, my relationship with the Ph.D., transitions and relationships following fieldwork in Papua New Guinea, and my fear of being an academic imposter. As a researcher using the art of poetry, I have expanded my understanding of research and the researcher role.

Keywords:

• Doctoral
• poetry
• reflexivity
• research
• researcher-poet

Acknowledgements

Thank you to Ron Petty and my “virtual” classmates for generously commenting on The Reference List, Publish or Perish, Breathing the PhD and Post-Fieldwork Blues. Thank you also to Emma Wittgans for her wise advice and to my supervisors Professors Jane Mills, John McBride and Rick Speare for their continued support throughout my Ph.D.

Funding

This work was supported by the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia [under grant 1038658] and the College of Medicine and Dentistry, James Cook University.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.