We invite the submission of manuscripts from those interested in publishing in a special issue of Qualitative Research in Psychology, entitled “Creative Representations of Qualitative Research”.

Special Issue Editors
Kerry Chamberlain, David Anstiss & Kathryn McGuigan

Background

The presentation of research findings, discussions of research methods, and debates about research processes within psychology are frequently framed within relatively traditional forms when submitted for publication. As Parker (2004, p. 100) commented “The standard format of a research report is a secure framework for many writers, but it is itself a particular genre of writing that can turn into a constraint and inhibit innovative work.” Recently, we have seen a growing interest across the social sciences in using a variety of arts-based forms to conduct and represent research differently (e.g., Barone & Eisner, 2012; Fraser & Sayah, 2011; Knowles & Cole, 2008). Barone and Eisner (2012, p. 3) argue that “arts based research is a heuristic through which we deepen and make more complex our understanding of some aspect of the world.” Arts-based research may be divided into that concerned with knowledge production, where the arts-based approach is central to data collection, interpretation and representation, and that concerned with knowledge translation, where arts-based approaches are used to disseminate existing research findings in alternative forms. Arts-based research can involve a variety of forms and variants. These can include: fictional and literary forms, such as short stories (e.g., Leavy, 2013), poetry (e.g., Galvin & Prendergast, 2012), play scripts (Rossiter et al., 2008), or flash fiction (e.g., Chamberlain, 2015); visual forms, such as photography, painting, portraiture, drawing and collage (e.g., Aita, Lydiatt, & Gilbert, 2010; Sullivan, 2010), or performative forms, such as theatre (Rossiter et al., 2008) dance and movement (e.g., Eales & Peers, 2016; Margolin & Riviere, 2015). Specific art forms may cross these categories or have variants, and there can also be combinations of genres involved in any specific research project (e.g., Yuan & Hickman, 2015). We also note the value of arts-based approaches in therapeutic and applied work (e.g., Wilson, Bungay, Munn-Giddings, & Boyce, 2016), and consider that more translation of academic research into arts-based forms will make such research more accessible and useful beyond the academy.

Scope

Although a few psychologists have authored publications of this nature (e.g., Hatcher, 2011), very little writing using these alternative forms has been published in journals for psychology audiences. Accordingly, this Special Issue of Qualitative Research in Psychology calls for work of this nature. The objective of the special issue is to provoke researchers to think more deeply about arts-based forms of research, alternative forms of research representation, and to provide a venue for psychology researchers to produce research representations in arts-based forms. We invite the submission of relevant material using arts-based forms of creative writing around qualitative research and qualitative research practices for a Special Issue of Qualitative Research in Psychology. We seek a variety of work illustrating creative representations of qualitative research and qualitative research issues, with the aim of highlighting new ways of knowledge production and of representing our research using arts-based forms. Suggested topics that could be addressed by papers are:

· theoretical, exploring the value of, or the application of, some form of arts-based approach to research

· methodological, examining methodological approaches to qualitative research and their value, or examining specific methods of qualitative research and their value

· reflexive, presenting accounts of research engagement

· creative accounts of specific research, offering interpretation of research data, involving the interpretation of new findings or the reinterpretation of already published research findings

· other topics, as proposed by submitting authors

Articles may be presented either as stand-alone works involving a particular arts-based form (e.g., a poem or set of poems) or include a particular art-based form with accompanying textual commentary (e.g., three short poems around the research topic with related explication) or as more standard papers discussing the value, practice or theory of arts-based research.

Forms of representation could include, but are not limited to:

· poetic forms, using poetry to present findings, reflexive statements or illustrate methodologies and methods,

· theatrical forms, using play scripts, such as readers’ theatre, or similar

· fictional forms, including short stories

· creative non-fictional forms, reporting research findings and outcomes

· essay forms, discussing arts-based research, methods, theory, or ethics

· visual forms, including photo essays, artwork as research, art and research, or similar

· standard paper forms, discussing the value, practice or theory of arts-based research

· other forms, including mixed forms, as proposed by submitting authors

Special Section: As part of the special issue we also seek to include a special section involving flash fiction. Accordingly, we also invite submissions of fictional pieces of 55 words (no more, no less) that address the topic of research engagement in some way. This could relate to the researcher, methods, participants, reflexivity, or any issue that addresses research processes relating to research engagements.

Note: These 55-word submissions will not be peer-reviewed in the usual way, but will be selected for publication on the recommendation of two experienced academics with skills in creative writing. Depending on space constraints within the journal, we will seek to publish the ten best pieces of writing in this special section.

Submissions

All manuscripts will be reviewed as a cohort for this special issue. Manuscripts should be submitted by February 28, 2017. All manuscripts, with the exception of the special section flash fiction submissions, will be peer reviewed, based on initial editorial screening and anonymous double blind peer review in line with journal editorial policy.

All submissions should be sent to K.Chamberlain@massey.ac.nz . Submissions should comply reasonably with standard QRiP journal format requirements, although these may be relaxed to allow for the needs of specific forms of creative papers (e.g., no abstract, very short papers, photo-essays with few words). Please be aware that accepted papers will appear in print and electronic form, and must be suitable for both forms. If your submission contains images in colour these will appear in black-and-white in the print form and in colour in the on-line form of the journal.

The AAWP takes great pleasure in announcing the winner of the 2016 ‘Chapter One’ prize.

 The winner is Ruby Todd for her manuscript Counterpart.

The AAWP takes great pleasure in announcing a highly commended entry: Lyn Dickens forBirdwatching in the Erinyes. Dickens’ work was long listed for the highly prestigious Richell Prize (2016).

The University of Western Australia Publishing (UWAP) has agreed to receive both manuscripts. Both authors are invited to read from their work at the annual conference of the AAWP. Their attendance at the conference is fully subsidised. As the winner, Ruby also wins a $500 cash prize.

Please find below extracts from the judges’ reports.

Extract from judge’s report for Counterpart:

I found this to be the most ambitious of the submissions, with the quality of the writing coming up to match the very searching themes and complex events outlined in the synopsis.  The writer shows an impressive descriptive power, both in the outlining of scenes and in the development of character.  The short extract quickly sets the reader’s mind running in numerous directions, in highly evocative density of impressions and allusions, in a way that is both demanding and rewarding.  The novel broaches very demanding psychological territory in ways that look, in this short extract, to be very effective.  The writing is impressively tactile and visual; the reader is presented with object after object, visual impression upon further visual impression.  It does far more than simply tell the story; it creates a very distinctive mood and a highly reflective ‘way of seeing’, that steadily schools the reader and with each paragraph, heightens sensitivity […].  Overall though, it is deeply learned, resonant, polished and evocative writing.  

Extract from judge’s report for Birdwatching the Erinyes:

As a judge, I was impressed with Birdwatching the Erinyes. The writing was strong with an engaging narrator who drops us right into the action – a skeleton has been discovered under a Sydney university quadrangle. According to the outline, we follow mixed race student Tuesday Goodman through the course of the novel as the skeleton’s story comes to light. This work also explores Pulau Pontianak, a multiracial island in the Java Sea that sank in 1979, and we learn about Tuesday’s uncle and love interest, moving between the present of the novel and three years previous. The work touches on themes of love, family and terrorism, asking the question: how do we reconcile with that which haunts us? On a line-by-line level, the author proves she is in control of her scenes, fleshing them out with telling details that offer a sense of character and place for the reader. The author’s use of language, especially, drew me in. The descriptions were haunting – even those pertaining to Twitter and nicotine inhalers. On both the structural and line-by-line levels, this was an engaging, thoughtful submission.

Up to two creative writing/literature PhD positions are now open for application at Curtin University for an innovative collaborative PhD program with the University of Aberdeen commencing early 2017.

PhD candidates will be enrolled at both Curtin University and University of Aberdeen and will, on completion, receive a joint award. The first and third years will be spent based at Curtin (Bentley campus, Western Australia) with the second year based in Aberdeen, Scotland. Candidates will receive world-class supervision from staff at both universities. The positions will be fee-waived (ie no fees payable) and with an APA scholarship for three years.

High calibre honours or Masters students or graduates are invited to contact Dr Rachel Robertson, Senior Lecturer at Curtin University on R.Robertson@curtin.edu.au or 08 9266 2615 to discuss this opportunity.

Proposed projects, which are open to negotiation, are:

Negotiating Cultural Identity in Contemporary Australian and Scottish Literature

Aberdeen Supervisor: Curtin Supervisor: Dr Deborah Hunn; Aberdeen Supervisor: Dr Helen Lynch

This project will focus on cultural identity in contemporary literature and may be suitable for a fiction writer. Aspects to explore may include literary work concerned with travel and unfamiliarity, stories of migration and expatriation, and issues of deportation, identity and belonging. Possible areas of exploration might include historical fiction, on the principle that the past is also ‘another country’ where things are done differently; fiction influenced by or generically derived from/related to folktale or oral narratives; work which reflects on the relation of a city to its surrounding areas, on place, landscape, language, gender and identity and on the relation of local and/or indigenous populations to new developments such as oil and mineral discovery or further migration.

Haunted by Use: Theories and Aesthetic Uses of Post-industrial Space and Place

Curtin Supervisor: Dr Christina Lee; Aberdeen Supervisor: Dr Wayne Price

The project will focus on specifically writerly uses of the past, setting and memory in post-industrial (and more broadly post-purpose) contexts and could include creative as well as scholarly work. This area of exploration is particularly well-suited both to the North East of Scotland and Western Australia, regions strikingly similar in terms of the cultural dislocations arising from industrial and post-industrial heritages and transitions. Some possible topics to explore in terms of both aesthetics and theoretical understandings of broader constructions of personal and cultural identity might be the phenomenology of uselessness/redundancy; nostalgia and voice; industrial gothic/hauntedness and urban spectral spaces; the aesthetic uses of ‘edgelands’; or psychogeographical approaches to urban space.

We have become aware of fraudulent emails advertising a scam competition that mimics our Emerging Writers’ Prize. The competition targets young, school-aged children. The fraudulent was sent from the following email address: Aawp-prize@outlook.co.uk

As many of you will know, we were recently partnered with UWRF for our Emerging Writers’ Prize. The winner was announced September 1.

We have been in touch with UWRF; they had no prior knowledge of the fraudulent emails.

We have been in contact with Creative Writing Ink (the organisation identified in the email). Creative Writing Ink have never alleged a connection with AAWP and had no prior knowledge of the fraudulent emails.

If you have any questions about AAWP initiatives please visit our Opportunities page.

The Australasian Association of Writing Programs (AAWP) together with the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival (UWRF) takes great pleasure in announcing the winner of the inaugural AAWP/UWRF Emerging Writers’ Prize.

Heartfelt congratulations to Annabel Wilson for ‘Quire’.

The 2016 theme was ‘Tat Tvam Asi’ which is a Hindu concept meaning ‘I am you, you are me’. The nuanced and innovative responses to the theme made the judges’ task extremely difficult. The overall quality of submissions was overwhelming.

We encourage all writers to submit again next year.

Annabel’s entry is forthcoming in Meniscus Literary Journal. Interestingly ‘Quire’ was composed from journal entries based on Annabel’s time in Ubud.

Warm wishes to all writers for diverse and original contributions.

Annabel wins— a ticket to the Ubud Writers and Readers Festival (UWRF), accommodation for the duration of the festival and $500 towards economy airfares. In addition, Annabel will receive a one-year annual membership to the AAWP and fully subsidised conference fees to attend the annual conference of the AAWP, where she is invited to read from her work.

The AAWP and UWRF are thrilled to support emerging writers through this initiative.

Early bird registration is now open for the 21st Annual AAWP conference hosted by the University of Canberra. Early bird rates allow attendees to get a discounted rate on all three days of the conference – whether you’re presenting, or just interested in watching panels and soaking in the vibrant ideas being exchanged throughout the event.

Until the 30th of September, early registration will cost $150 for students (postgrads and others), while academic staff pay $300. Visit the website for more details on how to register.

Abstracts are invited for a special issue of TEXT Journal. The special scholarly issue co-edited by Dr Bridget Haylock and Dr Suzanne Hermanoczki, aims to bring together papers by researchers and writers, as well as writing that contributes to the trauma narrative. The editors invite abstracts of 250 words for papers and a brief biography (50 words) and email. They also welcome other forms of writing, including reviews, if significant insight into the area of trauma is demonstrated.

For more information and the complete call for papers, click here.

Massey University is advertising for a full-time lecturer position in Creative Writing on its Palmerston North campus to start employment 1 February, 2017.

The School wishes to appoint an applicant who is able to contribute to a range of offerings in the Bachelor of Arts major in Creative Writing and to creative writing papers in the Bachelor of Communication major in Expressive Arts. Immediate responsibilities will include lectures and workshops for an established introductory creative writing course (poetry, fiction), as well as more advanced undergraduate courses in one or more of the following areas: creative non-fiction, fiction, and/or poetry. The position also includes teaching creative writing at postgraduate level and supervision of students engaging in creative/critical research.

For more details, visit the website

The AAWP is delighted to announce that it will be joining the Australian Council of Deans and Directors of Creative Arts (DDCA) as an organisational member. AAWP President Lynda Hawryluk has contributed a short piece to the DDCA’s inaugural interactive component, NiTRO.

The Australian Council of Deans and Directors of Creative Arts was established to represent creative arts issues at a national and international level.  The organisation shares knowledge and learning across the creative arts disciplines and seeks to enhance scholarship and practice within this rapidly developing academic domain. During the past year, on behalf of the membership, DDCA, submitted responses to the following Australian Government consultations:

– Combining Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) and the Higher Education Research Data Collection (HERDC) Consultation Paper
– Review of the Research Training System, conducted by ACOLA
– Consultation on Research Policy and Funding Arrangements
– in addition to the annual conference held last September and hosted by Flinders University, Adelaide.

The other major achievement of the year is the total revamp of the DDCA website, including the creation of an interactive component NiTRO which will accept material from members. NiTRO will allow creative artists to: share their research and  teaching and learning expertise; find out about news events and opportunities in tertiary creative arts; and contribute views and articles on changes happening in university creative arts. If you would like to submit to NiTRO, or for more information on DDCA, visit their website

The Australasian Children’s Literature Association for Research (ACLAR) invites applications for the editorship of Papers: Explorations into Children’s Literature to run for a period of four years from July 2016. Current editors, Professor Clare Bradford and Professor Kerry Mallan, intend to step down from this role at that point, but will work with the incoming editor(s) during a transition period.

Expressions of Interest are invited from individuals or editorial teams. Please consider the above Duties and selection criteria in making the decision to submit a formal application.

Formal applications (which will be invited following the receipt of EOI’s) will be due by August 31, 2016 and will require the submission of:

– A full curriculum vitae for each individual in a primary editorial position
– A detailed response to each of the selection criteria above
– Statements of support as appropriate from institutions / faculties / research
centres named in the application
– A brief outline of how you see the journal developing over the course of your
editorship, should you be awarded the position

Please forward your EOI by email to: ACLAR President, Dr Anthony Eaton (Tony.Eaton@canberra.edu.au) no later than 30 July 2016. If you require further information about the role, see the complete EOI information sheet or contact: Professor Clare Bradford (clare.bradford@deakin.edu.au) or Professor Kerry Mallan (k.mallan@qut.edu.au)