When: Wednesday 14th November, 11:55am – 1:25pm
Where: L2, Level 2 to the left of the registration/foyer area, down the hallway and through the doors on the right
Hashtag: #W13

Can poetry be used as a tool to communicate science? There is a science to poetry: poetic forms have strict formulas and measurement systems. Conversely, science is full of poetry – it is creative, imaginative, and inquisitive. This interactive workshop aims to decompartmentalise “poetry” and “science”, with a view to discussing the availability of poetry as a tool for communicating science to a wide range of audiences. Poetry will be deconstructed and various poetic forms analysed, giving you the techniques to debate and create your own science-inspired poetry. When scientific concepts are expressed in verse, perhaps the aesthetics, intuition, emotion, and poetic devices that characterise poetry will enrich the inductive reasoning, logic, pragmatism, and precise terminology that characterise science. Perhaps there are many ways in which the humanistic nature of poetry can be shaped for scientific purposes and messages. In turn, maybe the creative and descriptive nature of science will influence new poetic themes. Bring along your favourite poem or discover some new ones (perhaps even of your own making) as we explore science poetry and its future. Two examples, composed by the workshop’s facilitates, are here to get you thinking!

“This hemisphere leans
Sunward as winter breeds spring.
Hibernators rise.”

“The shy Higgs Boson’s strange decay
Happens, it seems, almost right away.
And it’s a loop of Tops
From which the shy Higgs pops,
Into a dual Photon array.”

Session Producers/Workshop Facilitators/Presenters

Dr Michael Leach, Adjunct Research Associate, School of Rural Health, Monash University

Rachel Rayner, Science Communicator, Australian Volunteers Program

The facilitators are currently working on a science communication paper around the topic of poetry as a communication tool. Elements of the results and discussion from this workshop may be incorporated into the paper.