Conclusion: Engaging with the Lives of Others

Abstract

As a hybrid in the worlds of research and art, poetic inquiry in its best iteration is both academically defensible and aesthetically compelling. In this chapter, Laura Apol summarizes that in her work in Rwanda, four aspects of poetic inquiry repeatedly came up: the importance of craft (the aesthetic); the imperative of accuracy and reliability (the investigative); the significance of ethical responsibility that leads to action (witness); and the centrality of relational connectedness and accountability (withness). Apol concludes that the lessons that accompany her use of poetry in Rwanda as a study in poetic inquiry go beyond arts-based research and speak more generally to other forms of cross-national, cross-cultural research.