Collaborating Off the Beaten Track

Abstract

Writing off the beaten track requires confidence, courage, and chutzpah. Collaborating off the beaten track requires something more: trust, for a start, not to mention flexibility, respect, a robust sense of humour, and an appetite for intellectual risk-taking. Join us as we revisit some memorable moments from the off-piste collaboration of a book author (Helen) and an illustrator (Selina) who also happen to be colleagues, co-mentors, and friends. The title and topic of Helen’s book, Writing with Pleasure, became the modus operandi of our collaborative process as we negotiated the challenges and rewards of venturing into new territory together. Like the forty illustrated panels that we co-produced for the book, these storyboarded scenes confound academic conventions and resist easy explication. Instead, they “gesture toward, lean into, sport with, learn from, dance around, and laugh about” (Sword, 2023, p. ii) the themes that they address: from shadowy sharks to unexpected treasures; from structural designs to serendipitous discovery; from imposter syndrome to creative confidence; and from surprise to delight.