WRITING AS EXCAVATION: RETHINKING RESEARCH IN ENGLISH STUDIES

Creative writing is not just about arranging beautiful words on a page. It is not decoration. It is excavation. It is how we dig beneath the surface of society and ask the questions people are often too afraid to voice. In Africa especially, writing has never been neutral. Our stories carry history, protest, memory, and hope. We do not simply write to entertain; we write to confront, to heal, and sometimes to disturb.

It was with this understanding that the Department of Languages Education at the Akenten Appiah-Menka University of Skill Training and Entrepreneur Development (AAMUSTED), led by Dr. Jonathan Essuman (Head of Department), organized a Zoom conference on Wednesday, 25th February 2026. The theme was both timely and thought-provoking: “Creative Writing as Research in English Studies: Approaches and Outcomes.”

The guest speaker was Uchechukwu Peter Umezurike, Assistant Professor in the Department of English at the University of Calgary, Canada. From the very beginning, it was clear this would not be an ordinary academic presentation. It was going to be a conversation.

When Writing Becomes Knowledge

After introductions, Dr. Umezurike opened his presentation with two powerful questions:

• How does creative writing function as a mode of knowledge production rather than merely aesthetic expression?

• In what ways does creative work generate knowledge instead of simply illustrating theory?

These questions immediately shifted the tone of the discussion. We were not just talking about stories anymore; we were talking about knowledge.

Dr. Samuel Aduse-Poku, creative writing lecturer at AAMUSTED, responded by grounding the conversation in the African context. He explained that African writers often feel a deep social responsibility. Our literature has always engaged with colonialism, corruption, identity, migration, inequality, and the many fractures within our societies. In that sense, creative writing is already a form of knowledge production because it interprets and challenges lived realities.

Dr. Umezurike agreed and emphasized that African aesthetics have historically been socially committed. Art, he noted, should not exist in isolation from society. It can be gentle, but it can also be confrontational. It can comfort, and it can demand change.

One statement that stood out during his presentation was this:

Every art begins in longing. Art gives shape to that longing, a reaching toward what could be. In some way, all art imagines a less brutal, less traumatic world.

That idea resonated deeply. Writing, then, becomes more than craft; it becomes vision.

From Language to Understanding

Dr. Umezurike described what he sees as a relationship between language, narrative, emotion, and understanding. Language forms narrative. Narrative evokes emotion. Emotion leads to what Chinua Achebe calls imaginative identification. And imaginative identification allows us to grasp human complexity.

We do not tell stories simply to tell them. We tell stories to make readers feel. Through feeling, they begin to understand.

He referred to Things Fall Apart to illustrate this point, particularly the marginalization of the Osu. When readers engage with such characters, they begin to see the humanity in those labeled as “other.” That emotional engagement becomes a form of knowledge, one that statistics or abstract theory alone cannot produce.

What Is Research-Creation?

The discussion then moved to art-based research, also known as research-creation. Dr. Umezurike explained that while creative writing produces literature, research-creation combines creative practice with academic inquiry. It is not just about telling a story; it is about telling a story informed by a research question, theoretical framework, or critical methodology.

He cited the definition by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, which describes research-creation as an approach that blends creative and academic research practices to generate knowledge and innovation through artistic expression and scholarly investigation.

In other words, the creative process itself becomes part of the research.

To make this clearer, he mentioned writers whose works successfully combine creativity and scholarship:

• Saidiya Hartman – Lose Your Mother

• Dionne Brand – A Map to the Door of No Return

• Esi Edugyan – Dreaming of Elsewhere

• Christina Sharpe – Ordinary Notes

These authors do not separate imagination from investigation. Their works move between storytelling, memory, theory, and history, demonstrating that research does not have to be detached or lifeless.

Does Theory Limit Creativity?

During the question-and-answer session, Dr. Aduse-Poku raised an important concern: If writers focus too much on theory, might they limit their creativity?

Dr. Umezurike responded thoughtfully. Creativity, he explained, is not opposed to theory. Being creative does not simply mean inventing fictional worlds; it also involves engaging ideas in imaginative ways. Creative writing can handle facts, but it presents them with nuance and vitality. Rather than restricting writers, theory can provide depth and direction.

Another participant asked about his personal experience with racism in Canada and how it informs his work. Dr. Umezurike drew a comparison between racism and tribalism. While tribalism involves discrimination across ethnic lines, racism operates across constructed hierarchies of humanity.

He shared that although much of what he experiences in academia is subtle or implicit, such encounters have influenced his poetry collection There Is More, which reflects on the experience of being an African migrant in North America. Instead of allowing racism to consume his energy, he has chosen to focus on strengthening his scholarship and mentoring younger scholars.

On Subjectivity in Scholarship

A question about subjectivity and credibility also emerged. Does writing from personal experience weaken academic work?

Dr. Umezurike emphasized that subjectivity is not a weakness. Every scholar writes from a particular position. Academic conversations are enriched when individuals contribute their perspectives honestly and critically. Acknowledging one’s standpoint does not reduce credibility; it clarifies it.

A Meaningful Gathering

The conference concluded with closing remarks from Dr. Jonathan Essuman. Yet beyond the formal ending, what remained was a renewed sense of purpose.

As students and emerging writers, we were reminded that creative writing can be rigorous. It can be critical. It can be research. Our stories can interrogate systems, challenge injustice, and deepen understanding. They can hold theory and emotion in the same space.

The session did more than explain research-creation; it encouraged us to see our writing differently. Not just as expression, but as inquiry. Not just as art, but as contribution.

And perhaps that is the real takeaway: when imagination meets critical thinking, writing becomes more than words. It becomes knowledge in motion.

– Sylar Bobobee