This guide bridges the gap between poetry and academic research. Written from a decolonial perspective, it offers diverse, practical insights on creating research poems. The guide weaves poetic methods, case studies, prompts, and exercises into a rich, instructive text, enabling researchers to navigate and enhance their work through poetry.

Heidi van Rooyen is the Group Executive of the Impact Centre at the Human Sciences Research Council and Chair of the Consortium on Advancing Poetic Inquiry in the Global South.

Raphael d'Abdon is Lecturer at Courtney International College (Pretoria), is Honorary Research Fellow at the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) and Research Fellow at the Department of English Studies at the University of South Africa.

1. Embracing Poetic Inquiry as a Decolonial Research Method - Heidi van Rooyen and Raphael d'Abdon

2. The Way of Poems - Kirsten Deane, Raphael d'Abdon and Angela Hough

3. Taking Poetry into Research - Angela Hough, Yvonne Sliep and Heidi van Rooyen

4. Navigating Ethical Territories in Poetic Inquiry - Yvonne Sliep, Angela Hough and Duduzile S. Ndlovu

5. Assessing the Craft and Reach of Poetic Inquiry - Duduzile S. Ndlovu and Heidi van Rooyen

6. Conclusion - Raphael d'Abdon and Heidi van Rooyen