Found poetry in the primary literature: Communicating beauty and creating new meaning from within familiar scientific works

Many scientists crave new ways of communicating their research and inspiring the public but may not know where to find the words to get started. Found poetry allows scientists to use previously written documents, such as their own or others’ primary research articles, to create new meanings and avenues for communicating scientific ideas while rediscovering the beauty and creativity inherent in scientific works traditionally assumed to be ‘dry’. Found poetry can be included in research or outreach presentations, or published in literary journals, to reach new audiences in an engaging and unique way. Found poetry can also be incorporated into classroom assessments that use primary literature to spark student interest, agency, and creativity. Finally, scientists may simply use found poetry as a way to gain inspiration, think about scientific literature from a fresh creative perspective, or to meditate on and express their passion for their research subject. This presentation will briefly showcase a few of the author’s published found poems as examples, before demonsrating several poetry techniques (found or otherwise!) for participants to use in their classrooms or outreach.