Pierce’s PhD story: storytelling for a better world

Words have the power to elevate our understanding, to shape our perceptions, and to change our hearts and minds. In the right hands, storytelling can transcend the printed page and influence the world – ideally, for the better. 

The people most aware of this power are perhaps those who study fiction. Pierce Wilcox, a PhD candidate at the UQ School of Communication and Arts, is one of those people.

Pierce’s research looks particularly at systems of economics and their portrayal in contemporary novels. He hopes to create a framework that authors can use to represent and explore economics – along with other complex systems like politics and climate change – in an effective, persuasive way. 

And he’s starting with his own novel.

“I want to know how writers can talk about the complex webs of finance that surround and bind us; how fiction can help us grasp these invisible networks of domination and extraction in ways that graphs, numbers and non-fiction can’t always communicate,” says Pierce.

“I’m investigating how different genres tackle this challenge, with the goal of producing a theory of genre writing, a practical toolkit, and an actual genre novel that does this to the best of my ability.”

Fiction writers can play a role in helping everyday people understand this vital part of contemporary existence – and, if they want, change it.

Pierce Wilcox

PhD, UQ School of Communication and Arts

Illustrating economics with fictional worldbuilding

To illustrate the point of his PhD, Pierce asks us to imagine the invisible powers all around us – the forces that guide and shape our lives, sometimes putting us on top of the world and other times leading us to ruin.

“I’m describing the magical powers in weird fiction, but I’m also describing the economy,” he explains.

“My thesis asks whether we can use the first to talk about the second.”

This matters because economics impacts everyone, whether we realise it or not.

“Economics is a difficult subject, and it tends to be left to non-fiction writers and mathematical experts – but that leaves the rest of us ignorant of the system that’s all around us and has sometimes terrible effects on our lives,” says Pierce.

“I’m asking whether metaphor and storytelling, specifically genre storytelling, can communicate deeper truths about the economy.”

Pierce’s collaborative PhD experience

The multidisciplinary nature of UQ’s research environment has been fundamental to Pierce’s PhD so far.

“I’m pulling together ideas from different fields that a lot of people would be surprised to see together, and my advisers have helped me explore the most exciting research in their own areas of expertise,” he says.

Pierce first saw the power of collaborative research while working as a research assistant for Associate Professor Helen Marshall, who would later become his primary PhD supervisor. Helen runs the WhatIF Lab at UQ, a group that runs imagination-led workshops – incorporating sci-fi and fantasy writing, gamification and interactive performance – to help industry and government departments envision possibilities and potential futures.

“This combination of the humanities-based practice of storytelling and the technical discipline of futures and foresight, brought together through game design to produce meaningful outcomes for individuals and organisations, made me think about how my own research could be similarly collaborative,” says Pierce.

Alongside Helen, Pierce’s supervisory team includes:

• Dr Natalie Collie, an affiliate of the UQ Research Centre in Creative Arts and Human Flourishing who also has many years of experience as a professional editor of academic and business writing.
• Dr Karin Sellberg, a lecturer from the UQ School of Historical and Philosophical Inquiry who specialises in medical humanities, feminist and queer historiography, and contemporary fiction.

“I feel extraordinarily lucky to have advisers that are experts in fiction writing (Helen), critical theory (Nat) and philosophy (Karin), and to have their guidance as I weave these ideas together with my own economics research to produce my PhD.”

What led Pierce to studying a PhD at UQ?

Pierce has loved learning since he was young.

“When I was a child, I desperately wanted to understand everything about the world and how it worked,” he says.

“When I got older, I wanted to change the world.”

Now he realises that those two desires go hand in hand, which naturally led him to research.

“To change anything about the world, first you have to understand it,” says Pierce.

“Postgraduate research is an opportunity to take these desires and focus them on a particular mystery, surrounded by fellow researchers who are also asking fascinating questions, supported by brilliant academics who can guide and inspire you.”

He came to UQ with a decade of experience in the arts, making theatre and opera with some acting and dramaturgy on the side. But even when he was deep in the world of live performance, Pierce was a voracious reader in his spare time, and he always had writing a book in the back of his mind.

“It’s pretty standard nerdy-kid stuff, on one level – escaping into other worlds and all that,” he says.

“But there are certain books that have changed the way I see the world, that have granted me access to deeper understandings than straightforward factual accounts, and I started to wonder… how does that work?”

“Studying Creative Writing is an opportunity to combine a personal artistic outlet – writing the book I’ve always wanted to write – with an intellectual question that I’m desperate to answer.”

Choosing UQ

Pierce moved from Sydney to study his PhD at UQ, encouraged by his friend Professor Chris Hay, who was an affiliate of UQ’s Centre for Critical and Creative Writing at the time.

“He knew I was a writer and he told me about the Creative Writing program here – that it was the best in the country, that there were some remarkable scholars and advisers he could connect me with, and that it was the perfect thing for me,” says Pierce.

“I was at a bit of a crossroads at the time; I had been writing for the stage for about a decade, but I really wanted to move into studying and writing novels, and UQ was exactly the place for me.”

The flexibility afforded to PhD students also makes studying easier for Pierce.

“I work from home a fair bit, and I sometimes work from Sydney, because my family is down there and I try to visit them pretty regularly,” he says.

“UQ is cool with that as long as I turn my work in according to my supervisor’s deadlines… which I do, the majority of the time.”

Pierce admits that Brisbane’s beautiful weather, friendly people and pace of life were considerable bonuses as well. With all these factors combined, he didn’t consider studying his PhD anywhere else.

Pierce’s advice for future PhD candidates

There’s no dancing around the fact that a PhD is hard work. But Pierce believes it’s not as all-consuming as it’s made out to be.

“There’s a lot of fearmongering around PhDs, especially online, and I want to do my bit to counteract that,” he says.

“It’s rigorous and challenging, but it’s also something you choose – you pick your topic, you pick your advisers, you pick how hard you work, and when to take a break.”

For Pierce, the key is self-discipline. Yes, it can be tough not having someone else creating your study schedule for you. But, on the flip side, this gives you the freedom to decide your own weekly routine (as long as you meet your agreed deadlines!).

The other most important thing is embracing the journey and leaving your mind open to all the opportunities research will provide to you.

“Say yes to things and reach out to the people around you,” says Pierce.

“There will be so many wonderful scholars around starting their research journeys alongside you, and if you talk to them, not only will you learn about fields of research that you’d never have imagined even existed, but you’ll make friends for life.”

“Know yourself and how you work, find a topic you care about and a supervisor who you want to be when you grow up, and you’ll have a fabulous time.”