This webinar promotes interdisciplinary collaborations by showcasing how creative writing can disseminate traditional research findings through modes and channels not conventionally exploited.

In 2020, social science researchers working in the Centre for Social Research in Health at UNSW initiated a study into the experiences of prisoners with histories of drug use following their release. The study, based on identifying factors that improve the health of people newly released from prison who inject drugs', confirmed systemic failures and injustices.

The Centre sought three creative writers to craft pieces drawing from interview transcripts to be released alongside scholarly findings and enhance the possibilities to reach a wider audience. These creative works underwent a rigorous ethical process, including consultation with members of the studied community. Members of the community then performed the creative texts and recordings were disseminated in addition to traditional publication. Finally, a STEM component was introduced when a researcher with a psychology background measured whether the creative outputs changed attitudes more than traditional outputs.

Meera offers her first-hand experience developing this exciting experimental, novel research dissemination strategy. It opens up new channels that may be more effective for provoking understanding and empathy. It features video of the performed work, and excerpts of a presentation by the UNSW researchers on the project that includes reflections and conclusions about the outcomes. Meera will share what she learned about being a creative writer with a social purpose that could produce tangible change for our most vulnerable.

Meera Atkinson is a writer publishing creative nonfiction, fiction, and poetry and an interdisciplinary scholar primarily working at the nexus of literary studies, trauma theory, and affect theory. Her writing has appeared in publications such as Salon.com, Best Australian Poems, Best Australian Stories, Meanjin, Southerly, and Griffith Review. Her books include Traumata (2018), The Poetics of Transgenerational Trauma (2017), and the co-edited volume Traumatic Affect (2013). She teaches creative writing in the English Discipline at the University of Sydney.

Contact the host of Webinar #32 | Meera Atkinson - Social Research Dissemination through Creative Writing