Exposing the private in the public through poems: Reflections of a PhD student

As narrative researchers PhD students can find themselves balanced on an edge — making choices about what to include in a story (exposure) and what to exclude (keep hidden) — making choices about re-presenting the private in the public. But what if the private we are making public is our own life? And this exposure is occurring through stories and poems? In this presentation my reflections on these questions, written as I lived the experience of being both researcher and participant, are re-presented through reflective poems drawn from my thesis. My reflections, written from the security of successful graduation, are woven into the text surrounding these poems. The simultaneous mirror/window quality of these re-presentations opens for the listener a reflective space within which to imagine and re-imagine their research experience.