Books on Writing
Researching Creative Writing by
Jen Webb is Distinguished Professor, Creative Practice, at the University of Canberra. Her research focuses on the politics and social location of art, and on the process and practice of creative writing. Her creative work includes the poetry collection, Proverbs from Sierre Leone (2004, Five Islands Press) and the short story collection, Ways of Getting By (2006, Ginninderra Press).
ISBN: 9781907076350Publication Date: 2015-07-01
Research Methods in Creative Writing by
A guide to the modes and methods of Creative Writing research, designed to be invaluable to university staff and students in formulating research ideas, and in selecting appropriate strategies. Creative writing researchers from around the globe offer a selection of models that readers can explore and on which they can build.
ISBN: 9780230242661Publication Date: 2012-12-07
The Art of Creative Research by
All writers conduct research. For some this means poring over records and combing, archives but for many creative writers research happens in the everyday world--when they scribble an observation on the subway, when they travel to get the feel for a city, or when they strike up a conversation with an interesting stranger. The Art of Creative Research helps writers take this natural inclination to explore and observe and turn it into a workable--and enjoyable--research plan. It shows that research shouldn't be seen as a dry, plodding aspect of writing. Instead, it's an art that all writers can master, one that unearths surprises and fuels imagination. This lends authenticity to fiction and poetry as well as nonfiction. Philip Gerard distills the process into fundamental questions: How do you conduct research? And what can you do with the information you gather? He covers both in-person research and work in archives and illustrates how the different types of research can be incorporated into stories, poems, and essays using examples from a wide range of writers in addition to those from his own projects. Throughout, Gerard brings knowledge from his seasoned background into play, drawing on his experiences as a reporter and a writer of both fiction and nonfiction. His enthusiasm for adventure is infectious and will inspire writers to step away from the keyboard and into the world. "Research can take you to that golden intersection where the personal meets the public, the private crosses the universal, where the best literature lives," Gerard writes. With his masterly guidance, anyone can become an expert in artful investigation.
ISBN: 9780226179773Publication Date: 2017-02-23
Screen Production Research by
Aimed at students and educators across all levels of Higher Education, this agenda-setting book defines what screen production research is and looks like--and by doing so celebrates creative practice as an important pursuit in the contemporary academic landscape. Drawing on the work of international experts as well as case studies from a range of forms and genres--including screenwriting, fition filmmaking, documentary production and mobile media practice--the book is an essential guide for those interested in the rich relationship between theory and practice. It provides theories, models, tools and best practice examples that students and researchers can follow and expand upon in their own screen production projects--back cover.
ISBN: 9783319628370Publication Date: 2017-12-19
A Companion to Creative Writing by
A COMPANION TO CREATIVE WRITING A Companion to Creative Writing is a comprehensive collection covering myriad aspects of the practice and profession of creative writing in the contemporary world. The book features contributions from an international cast of creative writers, publishers and editors, critics, translators, literary prize judges, and many other top professionals. Chapters not only consider the practice of creative writing in terms of how it is "done," but also in terms of what occurs in and around creative writing practice. Chapters address a wide range of topics including the writing of poetry and fiction; playwriting and screenwriting; writing for digital media; editing; creative writing and its engagement with language, spirituality, politics, education, and heritage. Other chapters explore the role of literary critics and ideas around authorship, as well as translation and creative writing, the teaching of creative writing, and the histories and character of the marketplace, prizes, awards, and literary events. With its unprecedented breadth of coverage, A Companion to Creative Writing is an indispensable resource for those who are undertaking creative writing, studying creative writing at any level, or considering studying creative writing.
ISBN: 9781118325773Publication Date: 2013-03-18
Creative Manoeuvres by
Creative Manoeuvres is a collection of new writings on a topic of enduring interest: the role of creative practice in the formation of knowledge. The contributors to this collection are primarily creative writers, working in poetry, fiction, nonfiction and ethnography. Many include the visual or performing arts within their practice; and all are academics as well as creative writers. Their chapters move the study of creative writing beyond subjective accounts of 'how I write' towards broader issues of how knowledge is addressed by, or incorporated into, or embodied in, art. Each chapter also does double duty as a case study on approaches to creative and research work, both describing and critically exploring the strategies, or 'creative manoeuvres', these writers have adopted to advance their practice in both creative and critical domains. In this way, the book not only exemplifies moves in the contemporary academy to understand better the value creative practice can offer to the university, but also provides a rich and engaging set of narratives about ways of being, ways of making and ways of coming to know. In both practical and theoretical modes, it contributes to the ongoing questions about creativity and/versus scholarship that have been debated over recent decades.
ISBN: 9781443864640Publication Date: 2014-01-01
Associations by
Associations is a collection of essays and reflections on creative practice and research. It presents some contemporary accounts and reflections on doing research for, through and with creative practices, particularly in the higher education sector. The overview of the book includes art and design and other creative practices-as-research intersections and will be particularly interesting to postgraduate researchers and emerging researchers. It is not a methods text, but it is oriented towards methodological thinking and the social and structural situations of creative practice and research. Contributors include- Gene Bawden; Barbara Bolt; Danny Butt; Tania Canas; Aaron Corn; Anne Douglas; Mick Douglas; Leuli Eshraghi; Ross Gibson; Lisa Grocott; Anna Hickey-Moody; Lucas Ihlein; Lyndal Jones; Hannah Korsmeyer; Julienne van Loon; Lachlan MacDowall; Brian Martin; James Oliver; Kate Pahl; Sarah Pink; Steve Pool; Amanda Ravetz; Ricardo Sosa; Naomi Stead; John Vella; Jessica Wilkinson
ISBN: 9780522869989Publication Date: 2018-04-02
Librarians and Guides
Did you know there is a librarian assigned to every academic discipline on campus? And they can help you find resources in that area? So whether you need to dive deeper into history or psychology or law, there is a librarian who can point you in the right direction. Find their contact information by discipline here.
Along with librarians for each discipline, there are typically guides (mini curated websites) created by those librarians regarding topics and resources in that field.
Library Databases
General Databases:
- Academic Search Elite This link opens in a new window This multi-disciplinary database offers full text for nearly 2,000 scholarly journals, including more than 1,500 peer-reviewed titles. Covering virtually every area of academic study, Academic Search Elite offers full text information dating as far back as 1985. This database is updated on a daily basis.
- JSTOR (Journal Storage) This link opens in a new window Provides image and full-text online access to back issues of selected scholarly journals in history, economics, political science, philosophy, mathematics and other fields of the humanities and social sciences. Consult the online tables of contents for holdings, as coverage varies for each titles. Journals may be searched across multiple titles as well as by the individual titles below Note that this database comprises mostly back issues: for most titles the JSTOR database does NOT include full text of the most recent 3 to 5 years.
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- MasterFILE Premier This link opens in a new window Provides full text for nearly 1,950 general reference publications with full text information dating as far back as 1975. Also includes 500 full text reference books, nearly 100,000 biographies, 86,000 primary source documents, and an image collection of 188,000 photos, maps and flags. This database is updated daily.
- Project Muse This link opens in a new window With full text for well over 300 journal titles from university publishers, Project MUSE covers the fields of literature and criticism, history, the visual and performing arts, cultural studies, education, political science, gender studies, and many others. Coverage begins in 1995.
- Web of Science This link opens in a new window [Help Searching Web of Science]A citation reference that includes Science Citation Index (1900-present), Social Science Citation Index (1900-present), Arts & Humanities Citation Index (1975-present), Book Citation Index- Science (2005-present), Book Citation Index- Social Sciences & Humanities (2005-present), and Medline, and links to Journal Citation Reports and EndNote web version. If you experience trouble connecting to WoS from off-campus, try clearing your cache or changing browsers. Firefox seems to be best for this.
Selected Topic-Specific Databases:
- Artstor on JSTOR This link opens in a new window Searchable database of digital images and associated catalog data within JSTOR, with new image collections added several times a year. Artstor covers many time periods and cultures, and documents the fields of architecture, painting, sculpture, photography, decorative arts, design, anthropology, ethnographic and women's studies, as well as many other forms of visual culture. Users can search, view, download and organize images. To download images users MUST register for a personal account. MOBILE USERS: For Apple: mobile.artstor.org. For Android: Download app from Google Play.
- Business Source Complete This link opens in a new window RECOMMEND USING CHROME; Business Source Complete provides full text for scholarly business journals and other sources, including full text for peer-reviewed business publications. Coverage includes virtually all subject areas related to business. This database provides full text (PDF) for top scholarly journals dating as far back as 1922. This database is updated daily.
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- Gale American Historical Periodicals 1-5 This link opens in a new window The collection includes unusual and short-lived magazines as well as better-known titles with long runs. Early periodicals in the collection focus on colonial life and the growing tensions between colonists and their oversea rulers leading up to the American Revolution. Common themes depicted in antebellum periodicals reveal a rapidly growing young nation where industrialization, western expansion, and regional political differences were a daily reality for many Americans. The Civil War and Reconstruction eras are well represented, documenting the conflict and its aftermath from a variety of perspectives and allowing readers to bear witness to this pivotal period in American history. Early twentieth century titles document the second Industrial Revolution, immigration, women’s rights, World War I, as well as fashion and music during the Roaring Twenties.
- Film and Television Literature Index This link opens in a new window Covers over 300 journal and magazine titles for film and television reviews, scholarly and critical analysis of cinema and television, and articles of popular interest about film and television. About half the journals and magazines are film periodicals and the other half cover film and television with some regularity. Subject coverage includes film and television theory, preservation and restoration, writing, production, cinematography, technical aspects, and reviews. Some full text is available.
- Communication and Mass Media Complete This link opens in a new window RECOMMEND USING CHROME; Combines CommSearch (formerly produced by the National Communication Association (NCA)), and Mass Media Articles Index (formerly produced by Pennsylvania State University).
- PsycINFO This link opens in a new window The APA PsycINFO database from the American Psychological Association (APA) covers the professional and academic literature in psychology and related disciplines including medicine, psychiatry, nursing, sociology, education, pharmacology, physiology, linguistics, and other areas. PsycINFO's peer-reviewed coverage is worldwide, and includes references and abstracts to 2,400 journals in more than 30 languages, and book chapters and books in the English language. Coverage spans 1600s – present and includes over 5 million peer-reviewed records.
- Archives Unbound This link opens in a new window Archives Unbound presents topically-focused digital collections of historical documents that support the research and study needs of scholars and students at the college and university level. Covers a broad range of topics from the Middle Ages forward-from Witchcraft to World War II to twentieth-century political history. Collections are chosen for Archives Unbound based on requests from scholars, archivists, and students.
- Catalog of U.S. Government Publications This link opens in a new window The CGP is the finding tool for federal publications that includes descriptive records for historical and current publications and provides direct links to those that are available online. Users can search by authoring agency, title, subject, and general key word, or click on "Advanced Search" for more options. The catalog offers you the option to find a nearby Federal depository library that has a particular publication or that can provide expert assistance in finding and using related U.S. government information. Click on the title of interest from your search results list. Then click on the Locate in a Library link within the displayed record.
- Europa World Plus This link opens in a new window Economic, political, historical, and geographic profiles of 250+ countries and global regions. Contact information for political, business, media, and cultural agencies and officials, including 1,900 international organizations. Search or browse by country, region, organization, or people.
- Literature Online (LION) This link opens in a new window A fully searchable library of over 350,000 works of English and American literature, overseen by an academic advisory board.
Magazine Archives:
Utilize The Perch guide for archives and holdings of newspapers, popular magazines, and journals.
Film and Screenwriting Databases:
- Film Scripts Online This link opens in a new window Contains over 1,100 scripts and makes available accurate and authorized versions of copyrighted screenplays. Includes: - Film Scripts Online, vol. I (aka, American Film Scripts Online) - Film Scripts Online, vol. II
- Feature Films for Education Collection This link opens in a new window In partnership with Global Eagle, this collection offers hundreds of full-length feature films focusing on both current and hard-to-find titles, including dramas, literary adaptations, blockbusters, classics, science fiction, environmental titles, foreign films, social issues, animation studies, Academy Award® winners, and more.
- Kanopy Streaming This link opens in a new window Custom online libraries of streaming videos from a variety of studios on a variety of subjects. UIowa can subscribe to individual titles upon request. PDA subscriptions include: * Latin American Studies Collection
- Swank Digital Campus This link opens in a new window Streaming video titles, mostly feature films or television, the University of Iowa has licensed from the Swank Digital Campus collection of videos.