Sharing place-based stories using digital tools: locative literature and regional writing communities

Abstract

<p><b>Fiction, community narratives and qualitative research</b> <p>The quote above, from a short story, 'Ninevah', written by Trina Jackson (2014), demonstrates the way fictional narratives written by members of the community can engage with place in nuanced ways. This chapter describes one methodology for bringing little-known narratives out of the community, exploring place through fiction-writing strategies, and sharing community narratives using digital tools. Since the beginning of my career as a historical fiction writer and artist academic, I have been inspired by the discipline of oral history, with its roots in narrative, storytelling, and the desire to dismantle grand historical narratives by bringing marginalised voices to the fore. My historical fiction is also rooted deeply in local stories of place. My writing and research interests led me to initiate a place-based storytelling project in a regional community in North Queensland, working with local writers to produce 'locative literature' (L&#248vlie, 2012), a form of writing that uses digital tools to publish stories in specific locations. This chapter is based on textual analysis of the stories regional writers produced as part of the project, and results of a survey completed with local writers. These data provide further understanding about how fiction writing, particularly aided by digital tools, allows writers to express their imagined perceptions of landscapes and presents multiple visions of the symbolic significance of the landscape. This is significant for regional writers who may struggle with isolation from writing networks and hubs. Fiction, particularly place-based fiction prompted by digital tools in the form of locative literature, allows for expression of regional identity around landscapes, which can function as a form of agency. In addition, locative literature, because it can show multiple representations of place, allows dense, multidimensional representations, which has the capacity to transform more rigid notions of place.</p>