Dr Diana Clarke – Fictional Research: decentering the concept of truth in creative research, Culture and Creativity seminar
My second novel, The Hop, explores the sex work industry across its broad spectrum. From legal brothels to underground escort services, corner girls to strip clubs, dungeons, and online work. Given the field’s murky history, and the still often-illicit nature of the work, a lot of my research attempts were met with suspicion, side-eyes, and silence. Surveys and questionnaires went unanswered and my direct-style interviews were largely unsuccessful. It wasn’t until I offered sex workers the option of responding to my questions with fictions, lies, rumours, alibis, and untruths that I was able to learn about them, their lives, and their professions. This paper explores the opportunities granted by a creative research approach that embraces the power and potential of fictional accounts.
Bio
Diana Clarke is the author of two novels, Thin Girls (Harper Collins, 2020) and The Hop (Harper Collins, 2022). She lectures in creative writing and screenwriting at the University of Canberra.
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