Proposals for next year’s International Creative Research Methods Conference are coming in, though more slowly than in previous years. I am trying not to have sleepless nights about this! We often get a big last-minute flurry so by the deadline – 6 December 2024 in case you were wondering – we may have enough proposals to make a conference. I hope so. If not, we will extend the deadline, and make it clear that we have done so, and why. (I’m never impressed with those social media posts that say ‘this conference has been so popular that we have extended the deadline for proposals’.)
I wonder whether the slower rate of submissions is because we said we were particularly interested in proposals for creative methods other than those for gathering data. This was in response to some of the feedback from this year’s conference, where people pointed out that most of the sessions focused on data gathering, and said they would like to know more about creative methods at other stages of the process. We usually have several sessions on writing, and some on analytic techniques – The Handbook of Creative Data Analysis demonstrates that researchers are doing a lot of creative work at the analytic stage. And I know from my own research and writing that creative work is also being done with research design, literature reviews and other kinds of context-setting, presenting findings, disseminating results, and so on.
That said, we do not expect, or want, to have a creative methods conference which includes nothing about creative data gathering. So if you have a method you’d like to share, but you’ve been holding back because you think we might not be interested – bring it on!
While I’m talking about ICRMC, I have a proposal for you, especially if you work outside the UK or have colleagues who do. I am currently in discussions with people in Australia and Canada about the possibility of holding ICRMCs in those countries – not instead of the UK, but as well. Whether those discussions will bear fruit remains to be seen. But I would love to see ICRMC spread its wings and take to the skies. So if you would like to host an ICRMC outside the UK, please get in touch, and I will give you all the help and information I can.
Helen Kara 
Hi Helen
I am planning on submitting a proposal, I am just a bit behind due to some very sad losses last week. Hope to get something submitted in the next day or two.
Best wishes Emily
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Hi Emily, so sorry to hear you’re having a tough time. Thanks for letting me know. Look after yourself. Best wishes, Helen
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Hi Helen, I did not consider submitting a paper to your conference. So, this comment is not specific to your conference, but about submitting to conferences, in general.
Personally, I am not sure whether I will submit any conference papers this winter, because of all the uncertainty around budgets (and, indeed, job security) in Universities in England. I had a paper accepted for a large conference in my field that I am now unable to attend due to spending freezes. Plus, we now a voluntary severance scheme in place. So, the prospects for next year’s conference season are not great.
But, hopefully, I am in the minority here, and you will get a rush of last minute submissions. I certainly hope so, as this does sound like a great conference, with space for new ideas and lots of encouragement.
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Hi Ana, this is useful info, thank you. We thought there might be a problem like this last year, but there wasn’t. But probably this year will be worse *eyeroll* though a rush of last-minute submissions is quite common so… fingers crossed!
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De
I for one hope it will be extended as I’m currently writing to other deadlines but would love to participate!!
I am looking at new creative approaches in theology for a decolonizing /racial Justice project. Spoken word/auto ethnography is my thing. But starting to think more about choreo-poetry as an embodied form. Come across this much? ar Helen,
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Hi and sorry for delayed reply, I missed your comment somehow. I haven’t come across choreo-poetry as an embodied form and I would love to know more about it. We didn’t need to extend the deadline in the end, but there is always next year!
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