7 July, 2023 at the British Library, London

Plus an optional afternoon tea and tour of the Digital Storytelling with the exhibition’s curators on 6 July, 2023

MIX 2023, the biennial conference on where and how creative writing and emerging technologies meet, will be co-hosted by Bath Spa University and the British Library. It will coincide with the British Library’s Digital Storytelling exhibition of digital literature and emerging formats, which will highlight digital publishing over recent years. MIX 2023 will enable scholars and practitioners to come together to explore the exhibition at the British Library as well as share current research and practice in the rapidly developing field of storytelling in immersive environments.

Major themes for MIX 2023 will include text in immersive media, interactive and locative works, digital and film poetry, narrative games as well as digital preservation, archiving, enhanced curation and storytelling with AI.

MIX 2023 is looking for proposals for 15 min papers or presentations and 6 min lightning talks from technologists, artists, creative writers and poets working in the digital realm as well as academic researchers and independent scholars. They are particularly interested in the work and views of creators, audiences and communities currently underrepresented across writing and technology. Papers, presentations and lightning talks focused on teaching and pedagogy are also welcome.

Visit the MIX website or email MIX@bathspa.ac.uk for more information.

Are you interested in the future of content publishing? Are you a writer, artist, technologist or researcher engaged in finding new ways to tell stories to new audiences? Are you keen to hear from people working across books, digital, sound, video, AR, VR, and games? Held virtually this year, MIX 2021 offers an opportunity to join us from wherever you are in the world as we think about the future of content creation and publishing.

Based at Bath Spa University in the UK, MIX is a biennial conference that explores the intersection of writing and technology, bringing together people from around the world to make, think and talk. It includes two days of Maker Sessions on Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th July, including StoryFormer with BBC R&D and body as home/ phone as home: A digitally embodied workshop, followed by two days of papers, presentations and discussions on Monday 5th and Tuesday 6th July.

Our keynote speakers are Annie Reid, narrative director at Ubisoft, Dialogue Book’s Sharmaine Lovegrove,  poet Caleb Parkin and Kathi Inman Berens, Associate Professor of Book Publishing and Digital Humanities at Portland State University. The conference programme also includes poetry film screenings on the theme of Amplified Voices curated by Adrian B Earle from Think/Write/Fly and Sarah Tremlett form Liberated Words.

This year, MIX is a collaboration with Bristol+Bath Creative R+D’s Amplified Publishing, exploring future models of content creation, discovery and distribution, alongside our industry partners Epic Games, Future and BT. B+B Creative R+D is funded by the UK’s Arts and Humanities Research Council, exploring new and innovative applications of technology across the sector and boosting the creative economy. Our other partners include Paper Nations, a creative writing incubator championing approaches to the art of writing that are inclusive, playful and exploratory. 

All events will take place virtually on Zoom. We hope to see you there.

Book your ticket and for more information visit our website.

Last week, we returned to Bath Spa University for the annual three-day MIX Digital Conference, held for the first time in the new Commons building on Newton Park Campus.

Writing Digital: MIX Digital 3, supported by partnerships with the Digital Cultures Research Centre (DCRC), The Writing Platform, and Conducttr, gave participants the chance to catch up with artists, writers and academics who are working at the forefront of where arts practice meets technology, where the artificial division between the digital and the analogue no longer exists.

Over the three days, there was a vibrant mix of academic papers, practitioner presentations, seminars, keynotes, discussions, workshops and an exhibition of the work by conference participants.

It was also the chance for The Writing Platform’s 2015 Bursary Recipients to showcase their work. Kate Pullinger, conference co-chair and co-founder of The Writing Platform, introduced the recipients: Victoria Bennett (writer), Adam Clarke (technologist), Kelly Jones (writer) and Linda Sandvik (technologist).

Victoria Bennett and Adam Clarke applied as a team and their project, My Mother’s House, used Minecraft to immerse the player in the experience of the poem and expand the idea of what literature and video games can be.

Speaking about their project, Victoria and Adam said, “Minecraft offers potential for shared expression and experience of literature in really interesting and playful ways.

“We are keen to share this work with the growing Minecraft community and see how it may seed new ideas.”

At the conference delegates witnessed a video walkthrough of My Mother’s House, which was an emotive experience for many delegates.

Elspeth Penny, tweeted: “Thanks for your touching poetry Minecraft film ‪@thecommonpeople at Mix. I am now going to join my kids on Minecraft and explore.”

The judging panel paired Kelly Jones and Linda Sandvik because, as judge Naomi Alderman prize-winning author and Professor of Creative Writing and Digital Media at Bath Spa noted, they both wanted to explore “telling a story that cannot help but be shaped by and respond to technology.”

Their project, 1.4 for copy, is an interactive sound sculpture with the ability to connect audience members throughout the conference space. Inspired by the real life meeting of Kelly’s parents on a CB radio in 1980 and the science of radio waves and their infinite but fading travel, Kelly and Linda have created a piece that takes us away from our phone screens and see’s us connecting with one another.

Kelly created a mock-up of the project in room 133 in Commons. In the discussion, Kelly took us through their installation explaining how it came about and why it was named 1.4 for copy, “1.4 is the channel but they always call it the one four…For copy means for someone to come back to me. It’s all a language.”

Naomi shared her enthusiasm for the bursary projects. “So often, in digital writing, either the ‘digital’ or the ‘writing’ ends up feeling like second fiddle, the bit that’s put in at the end when the other bit’s all dealt with. So I’m always thrilled when a digital writer has a story to tell – not just a new way to use the medium, but a story that cannot help but be shaped by and respond to technology.

“I was particularly excited, therefore, to see Kelly’s story of how her parents met over CB radio.

“It feels like precisely the thing I was looking for here – a story that is not only told via technology but is actually about how technology shapes our lives.”

The Bursary Programme has undoubtedly grown since its inception three years ago. In its first year, there were only four technologist applicants.

Joanna Ellis, co-founder of The Writing Platform, commented, “We had 218 applications for the 2015 programme, three times the number we had in 2013.”

MIX 03 highlights

Throughout the conference, there was a vibrant and diverse list of visiting speakers and discussions. Anna Gerber and Britt Iverson founders of London-based publishing house Visual Editions discussed its new project Editions at Play, a collaboration with Google Creative Labs. They hope to create a place to showcase, celebrate, and bring out digital books that are immersive, written and developed with the idea of being digital.

Chris Meade, writer and founder of if:book, kept delegates entertained throughout the conference, encouraging visitors to his pod to donate their “nearly” stories. He presented his transmedia novel in progress, What Didn’t Quite, about how we live with the things we’ve nearly done.

“Far more things nearly happen than happen,” he said. “The universe is held together by the dust of human kind’s nearlyincidence.”

‪Cardiff-based academic, Jenny Kidd took us through her collaborative research project with the creative marketing agency, yello brick, funded by REACT. “With New Eyes I see” explores whether documentary can become an experience or a journey beyond the screen. The project will research a site-specific documentary using torches, projection and RFID to trigger content as participants walk around Cathays Park in Cardiff.

Further highlights over the three days included:

• Bambo Soyinka chaired a great discussion on Digital Remediation: From Analogue to Digital with Dan Prichard, Sharon Clark and Miriam Rasch.
• Kate Pullinger’s presentation, “From dBook to pBook and Back Again”
• Naomi Alderman discussed her hugely successful apps, Zombies! Run, and The Walk
• Blast Theory – internationally renowned as one of the most adventurous artists’ groups using interactive media, creating new forms of performance and interactive art – discussed their current kickstarter-funded project, Karen.

One of the most thought-provoking events of the conference was the launch of James Coupe’s artwork “General Intellect” on Bath Spa’s MediaWall, an architectural scale portrait format gallery display, consisting of ten 55″ panels. At just under 4m wide and rising 7.5m from floor level it is uniquely positioned at the heart of the Commons building.

The project is a thirty channel video work, which uses video that has been acquired from Mechanical Turk an Amazon.com service, showing how computer algorithms can hire human beings to complete tasks that are hard for computers to do.

James says in a short video about the piece, “The work is largely concerned with labour, in particular digital labour. Most of the people on Mechanical Turk are completing tasks for which they have no idea who they’re working for or what the purpose of those jobs are.

“The work has something to say about relationships between humans and machines, between humans and algorithms, and the nature of dissociative, potentially disenfranchised, relationship with technological narratives.”

As the three days drew to a close, it became clear that technology really is transforming narrative.

Writing Platform Bursary recipients showcase their work alongside keynote speakers writer Naomi Alderman, theorist Florian Cramer, and performers Blast Theory at this year’s Writing digital: MIX Digital Conference.

Mix Digital is taking place between 2nd and 4th July 2015. The full programme is available on the MIX Digital website. Tickets can be booked via the Bath Spa Live website. 

The new Commons building at the Newton Park campus of Bath Spa University will be the home of this year’s MIX DIGITAL conference. Following the success of the last two MIX DIGITAL conferences, held at Corsham Court, the University’s School of Humanities and Creative Industries continues to be at the forefront of both research and teaching of creative practice across many forms.

This year’s conference will take place from 2 – 4 July 2015 and will take advantage of the features and interactive spaces in the new Commons building where it will host a vibrant mix of academic papers, practitioner presentations, seminars, keynotes, discussions, workshops and an exhibition of the work by conference participants.

The full schedule of keynote speakers is yet to be finalised but confirmed speakers are Professor of Creative Writing and Digital Media Naomi Alderman, theorist of the post-digital Florian Cramer, and adventurous artists’ group Blast Theory.

Professor Alderman is a prize-winning author; in 2006 she won the Orange Award for New Writers, and in 2007 was named as Sunday Times Young Writer of the Year, and one of Waterstones’ 25 Writers of the Future.   In 2012, she co-created the top-selling fitness game and audio adventure Zombies, Run! which has been shortlisted for a Develop award for narrative and the Writer’s Guild of Great Britain best videogame award.

This is a call for papers, presentations and works for exhibition for the Writing Digital: MIX DIGITAL 3 conference.

The deadline for submissions is 31st January 2015.

Writing  Digital: MIX DIGITAL 3 will take place from 2-4 July 2015 at Bath Spa University’s Commons Building.

Papers/presentations and workshops are invited in relation to the on-going themes of:

• Creative writing and digital technology
• The future of the book
• New forms of publishing
• New forms of digital curation

and in any of the following areas:

• Digital fiction and digital poetry
• Digital art and text
• Non-fiction and multiplatform publication (digital and print)
• Digital and interactive script-writing (including theatre-making and film -making)
• Transmedia practice
• Collaborations between writers and technologists
• Participatory media
• Transnational creativity

In partnership with the Digital Cultures Research Centre at UWE there will be co-curated strand for which presentations on the following are sought:

• The practice of interactive documentary and/ or
• The emergent field of ‘ambient literature’ (including mobile, locative, and other site-specific storytelling forms)

In partnership with Bath Spa’s Media Futures Research Centre there will be co-curated strand on ‘Analogue Futures’ for which invitations on the following are sought:

• The digitalisation of writing practices and techniques
• Remediation associated with emerging digital technologies
• Slow media
• Concepts and cultures of vintage, heritage and authenticity
• Sustainability and materiality within the realm of digital media

Workshops on creative practice and pedagogical papers in relation to any aspect of the above are welcome.

HOW TO SUBMIT

Abstracts of up to 300 words for a 20-minute paper/presentation or a 90-minute workshop should be sent to mixdigital2015 [at] gmail.com.

The deadline for submissions 31 January 2015.

Works submitted for exhibition will not be considered unless the artist is attending the conference.

A selection of conference papers will be developed for publication in a special issue of Convergence: the International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies.

The Bath Spa University Conference Committee is: Katharine Reeve, Lucy English, Kate Pullinger, Maggie Gee, Mike Johnston, Kristin Doern, Dan Ashton and Anthony Head.

There will also be a separate competitive international call to create a new artwork for MediaWall, our eight-metre high digital gallery space;  this work will be launched during Writing Digital: MIX DIGITAL 3

Conference booking will open in November. A limited number of rooms on campus will be available for delegates. We will be posting news and updates on the Writing Digital: MIX DIGITAL 3 website.

ABOUT WRITING DIGITAL: MIX DIGITAL 3 

After the success of the last two MIX DIGITAL conferences, Bath Spa University is hosting Writing Digital: MIX DIGITAL 3 in the newly completed Commons building at the Newton Park Campus, just outside of Bath.

Bath Spa University’s School of Humanities and Creative Industries, with its stellar Creative Writing Department, is at the forefront of both research into and teaching of creative practice across many forms. MIX DIGITAL has established itself as an innovative forum for the discussion and exploration of writing and technology, attracting an international cohort of contributors from the UK, Australia, and Europe as well as North and South America. From 2015 the conference will be biennial and will become one of the flagship conferences for the university.

Writing Digital: MIX DIGITAL 3 will take full advantage of our brand-new Commons building and its interactive spaces through hosting a vibrant mix of academic papers, practitioner presentations, seminars, keynotes, discussions and workshops, as well as an exhibition of work by conference participants.

Our partners, The Writing Platform, will showcase the two winning projects from the competitive bursaries they will have awarded earlier in 2015 for new creative writing and technology projects. There will also be a separate call to digital artists for entries to an international competition to create work for our Media Wall.

Confirmed keynotes include Naomi Alderman talking about how and why a literary novelist came to be the imaginative power behind the hugely successful apps, Zombies! Run, and The Walk; also confirmed is Blast Theory, internationally renowned as one of the most adventurous artists’ groups using interactive media, creating new forms of performance and interactive art – they’ll be discussing their current kickstarter-funded project, Karen.

For more information and updates about Writing Digital: MIX DIGITAL 3 please visit: mix-bathspa.org/

in association with

The Writing Platform returns to Rich Mix, London, on 4th November 2013 with a mini-fair and conference for writers. Tickets cost £44/ £39 (concessions), booking is through the Rich Mix box office.

Join us for:

• Discussions about some of the key issues, opportunities and challenges facing writers
• Advice and practical workshops from a wide range of organisations working with writers
• Meet and share your own experiences with other writers
• The launch of Visual Verse, who will be running a short story competition on the day
• The chance to win a Kobo Aura courtesy of Kobo Writing Life

Download the full programme including timings, speaker and exhibitor information here.

PANELS

• My Writing Life
• Beyond the Page
• Money Money Money
• Getting Noticed

SEMINARS AND WORKSHOPS

• Acclaimed writing therapist, Jackee Holder will be sharing tips from her latest book, 49 Ways to Write Yourself Well: The Science and Wisdom of Writing and Journaling – hosted by Words of Colour Productions
• Typesetting your Manuscript with MS Word – presented by CompletelyNovel
•  The Self-Publishing Journey in the Digital Market – presented by Kobo Writing Life
• Digital Media Clinic with Campbell X, Director of PoWWow – hosted by Words of Colour Productions
• Email Marketing and Newsletters for Authors – presented by CompletelyNovel

EXHIBITORS

• Alliance of Independent Authors
• Arts Council England
• Arvon
• Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society
• CompletelyNovel
• Kobo Writing Life
• Spread the Word
• The Literary Consultancy
• The Literary Platform
• Visual Verse
• Words of Colour Productions

PANELS

My Writing Life: Writers lift the lid on their writing habits, from tackling the creative process to making a living and how they balance writing time with raising their profile and the myriad digital distractions.

Philip Hensher, author, journalist, and professor of Creative Writing at Bath Spa

Polly Courteney, the author of six novels, the most recent of which is Feral Youth, who famously walked out on her publisher Harpercollins

Nikesh Shukla, an author whose debut novel, Coconut Express was shortlisted for the Costa First Novel award 2010

Chaired by Rebecca Swift, Founder of The Literary Consultancy

Beyond the Page: writers whose work consistently breaks new ground discuss their work – which ranges from live-writing and performance to crowd-sourcing and co-creation – and share what inspires them to keep pushing at the boundaries of form. With:

Kate Pullinger, a writer of novels, short stories and collaborative transmedia projects including Flight Paths, Inanimate Alice and Memory Makes Us.

David Jackson, a PhD researcher and designer at MIRIAD and creator of Storyjacker, an experimental online story-writing platform which allows users to write together using games.

Nick Makoha, a writer, poet and Spoke-Lab resident and creator of one man show “My Father and Other Superheroes” that reveals how pop culture raised him in the absence of his father.

David Varela, a writer and producer working in a wide range of media including books, plays, films, speeches, musicals, websites, treasure hunts, alternate reality games, apps and many other projects that defy categorisation.

Chaired by Paul Sherreard of Spread the Word

Money Money Money: This panel will explore the range of funded and commercial opportunities available to writers, from Arts Council England grants to crowdfunding, publishing and distributing via the Kobo Writing Life platform and how why writers should sell directly to readers. With:

Gemma Seltzer, Relationship Manager at Arts Council England. Gemma is also a writer who has created form-busting projects such as Speak to Strangers and 5am London.

Patrick Hussey, is a consultant specialising in crowdfunding. He also writes about technology, culture and society for a range of publications including the Guardian and the Independent.

Diego Marano, UK Manager of Kobo Writing Life.

Suw Charman-Anderson, social technology consultant, journalist and writer who has been carrying out an experiment in selling her novel, Queen of the May, direct to readers from her website.

Chaired by Joanna Ellis, COO of The Literary Platform and co-founder of The Writing Platform

Getting Noticed: this panel will explore the many meanings ‘Getting Noticed’ has for writers, from securing an agent and/ or publisher, to cultivating a readership using blogs, social media and writing platforms. With:

Nicola Barr, literary agent at London-based literary and media agency Greene and Heaton

Minna Salami, founder of MsAfropolitan, a multiple award-winning blog covering contemporary Africa and Diaspora society and culture from a feminist perspective. Her main areas of expertise include extensive research and writing on gender issues in African society; media and popular culture in an African context; speaking engagements and university guest lectures.

Emily Benet is an author and blogger. Her first book Shop Girl Diaries began as a blog about working in her Mum’s chandelier shop. She wrote her second Spray Painted Bananas in installments on Wattpad, which led to a million hits and her signing with Laura Longrigg at MBA literary agency. Emily has written about the benefits of social media for writers for Mslexia, The New Writer and Publishing Talk, and runs Blogging and Social Networking Workshops.

Anna Lewis, co-founder of ValoBox and CompletelyNovel. Her focus with both ventures has been connecting content creators with new technologies so they can build a better relationship and experience for their readers.

Chaired by Donna Hancox, Lecturer in Creative Writing and Literary Studies at Queensland University of Technology.

SEMINARS AND WORKSHOPS

Several of our exhibitors will be running seminars and practical workshops throughout the day. Join them as they offer insight and practical tips on a range of subjects:

• Acclaimed writing therapist, Jackee Holder, will be sharing tips from her latest book, 49 Ways to Write Yourself Well: The Science and Wisdom of Writing and Journaling. Presented by Words of Colour.
• Typesetting your manuscript with MS word with Completely Novel: So you think you know everything about Microsoft Word? You thought typesetting your work would be a doddle? WRONG! Completely Novel’s Anna Lewis takes everything you thought you knew about typesetting with Word and turns it on its head and reveals everything you didn’t know about using Word to create a professionally typeset book. A well typeset book can be the difference between a professional looking book that sells and a poor quality book that doesn’t, If you’re thinking about self-publishing you can’t afford to miss this.
•  The Self-Publishing Journey in the Digital Market with Kobo Writing Life: Diego Marano, UK Manager of Kobo Writing Life will present the key steps to be taken before, during and after the publication of an e-books.
• Campbell X, director of PoWWow digital strategy will lead a digital media clinic on raising your profile, building networks and attracting the right target audience. Campbell X is an experienced social media strategist whose clients include the National Theatre, Channel 4, St Martins School of Art and LUX. Presented by Words of Colour Productions.
• Email Marketing and Newsletters with Anna Lewis and Suw Charman Anderson. Research shows that email marketing is still one of the most effective forms of marketing in the digital age, even ahead of social media such as Facebook and Twitter. A good newsletter and a strong mailing list are powerful tools for any writer, but how do you get started, and what tools should you use? CompletelyNovel’s Anna Lewis will present a talk on successful email marketing. Presented by Completely Novel.

EXHIBITORS

Alliance of Independent Authors (ALLi) is a nonprofit, professional association for self-publishing writers. Rapidly growing, with members on all six continents, ALLi invites such writers to come together in a spirit of mutual co-operation, in service to our readers and each other.

As well encouraging ethics and excellence in self-publishing, ALLi advocates and campaigns for the interests of indie authors everywhere. Our mission is the democratisation of writing and publishing through community, partnership and author empowerment.

Arts Council England champions, develops and invests in artistic and cultural experiences that enrich people’s lives. It supports a range of activities activities across the arts, museums and libraries.

Visit them for: Gemma Seltzer (Relationship Manager, Literature) is available for one-to-one sessions with writers and organisations that are interested in applying for ACE’s Grants for the Arts funding. Participants should come with an outline of planned project and a preliminary budget including the amount of financial support requested from Arts Council England.

Arvon is celebrated for its unique ability to discover and develop the writer in everyone. We run creative writing courses for schools, groups and individuals in a wide range of genres, from fiction to screenwriting, taught by leading authors. Grants are available to help with course fees. Our residential courses take place in historic writing houses in beautiful countryside locations, and we run a small number of non-residential weekend courses in UK cities each year.

Visit them for: information about our programme of creative writing courses and other opportunities for writers. Explore the writing centres, find out about the authors who tutor for us, and ask any questions you may have about the financial grant process or our mentoring schemes.

Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS)  is a not-for-profit membership organisation. We represent the interests of all writers and safeguard their intellectual property rights. We collect secondary royalties on behalf of over 85,000 writers across the UK and abroad and pay them directly to our Members, twice a year. For more information do visit our stand where we will be happy to answer your questions and sign you up for membership.

Calling all writers! If you have had an article published in a printed academic or trade journal, or written or contributed to a book, television, or radio programme, then the Authors’ Licensing and Collecting Society (ALCS) could be holding money owed to you.

CompletelyNovel.com is an online publishing community and social-sharing site for book-lovers. For self-published writers we provide a friendly, simple-to-use platform that allows works to be published in quality print editions at the most competitive prices.

Visit them for: information about Print-on-Demand and to talk to the team about all aspects of self-publishing, from cover design, to type-setting, to marketing and PR and sales. You can check out some of our published books, and get a live quote on publishing your book using our online price calculator. And don’t forget to watch out for stand giveaways and surprises throughout the day!

Kobo Writing Life is Kobo’s global self-publishing platform geared towards independent authors, agents and publishers. Since its launch in July of last year, Kobo Writing Life has attracted more than 18,000 authors who have published more than 100,000 titles available in 184 countries and in 54 languages.

Kobo Writing Life is characterized by offering an open, collaborative and user-friendly platform to the end of elevating the success of the independent author community across multiple markets.

Visit them for: Diego Marano, UK Manager of Kobo Writing Life, will be at the stand for the whole day to answer questions and give personal advice. Free Kobo Writing Life-branded items will available at the stand whilst stocks last.

Spread the Word is London’s Writer Development Agency. Are you a writer looking for information, advice and support? Spread the Word offers professional development and advice sessions for writers, as well as providing information about how to get involved with Spread the Words diverse writing programme across London.

Visit them for: bespoke 10 minute advice sessions and to find out more about their development programmes.

The Literary Consultancy is the UK’s leading editorial assessment service, providing in-depth, honest and valuable feedback on manuscripts across all genres, by writers writing in English at all levels, from novice to agented. We are particularly interested in exploring the various routes into publishing within an increasingly digital industry, and are on hand to answer questions, and guide you as to what your next move might be. We also run a mentoring programme for ongoing one-on-one consultation, an annual Literary Holiday and a vibrant events series with workshops, seminars and a yearly conference.

Visit them for: more information about the advice and support they offer writers.

The Literary Platform is an agency specialising in books and technology. It works with publishers, developers, literary organisations and academic institutions on a wide range of digital-related projects. In 2012 The Literary Platform launched The Writing Platform, a website and events programme (including this one!) dedicated to arming writers with digital knowledge.

Visit them for:  general information about today’s event and 10 minute surgeries on your social media presence.

Visual Verse is an online anthology of art and words. It is designed to inspire writers of all stages by providing arresting, surprising and elegant images and inviting writers to respond with a piece of short fiction, non-fiction or poetry. Writers are challenged to write just 50-500 words, within an hour, and the results appear online. The rules are simple – look, observe and then write, without overthinking.Visual Verse is a collaboration between Kristen Harrison at The Curved House, Mr Pete Lewis and writer/editor Preti Taneja. It is supported by a group of wonderful patrons including former poet laureate Andrew Motion and artist Mark Garry.

Visit them for:  To celebrate the launch of Visual Verse we  are inviting all writers in attendance to submit a short piece of writing on the day and our editor, Preti Taneja, will judge the submissions and select a winner. The winning entry will be featured on the homepage of Visual Verse and the writer will receive a beautiful limited edition framed print of the image on display.

Words of Colour Productions is a social enterprise that has created inclusive programmes for budding and established writers of all genres since 2005.

Visit them for: advice and further information about their programmes. Words of Colour Productions are also running two seminars on their stand: Writing therapist, Jackee Holder, will be sharing tips from her latest book – 49 Ways to Write Yourself Well: The Science and Wisdom of Writing and Journaling and Campbell X, Director of PoWWow Digital Strategy, will lead a digital media clinic on raising your profile, building networks and attracting the right target audience.

The Writing Platform returns to Rich Mix, London, on 4th November 2013 with a mini-fair and conference for writers. Tickets cost £44/ £39 (concessions), booking is through the Rich Mix box office.

The Newcastle Writing Conference presents an opportunity for new and emerging fiction writers to explore and learn about trends in publishing, new markets for writing, as well as a chance to connect with other authors and industry experts.

The conference is presented by New Writing North and Northumbria University and will approach the publishing industry from a writer’s perspective, with a focus on how to break into writing, market trends and the state of the bookseller industry.

The Literary Platform will host a Writing Platform panel in the afternoon, introducing this new online space for writers: The Writing Platform is a free online guide for writers at all stages and of all genres, to best online practice and writing in a digital age.

The Literary Platform founder Sophie Rochester will chair the panel, with author speakers; Chris Rickaby, Lisa Gee, Ewan Morrison and Tony White.

Saturday 4 May, 9.30am-5.30pm

Northumbria University, Newcastle upon Tyne

Book Now

Following the success of the MIX DIGITAL Conference 2012, The Writing Platform is partnering with Bath Spa University to co-host a second MIX Conference this July. The three-day series of events will take place at Bath Spa University’s Corsham Court campus, a Grade One-listed Jacobean mansion in the bucolic Wiltshire landscape.

Day Three of the conference should be of particular interest to The Writing Platform readers, providing a series of hands on workshops. At ‘The Making Day’ on Wed 17 July attendees will have the opportunity to partake in workshops and introductory sessions run by practitioners, technologists, web designers and digital publishers, giving them the chance to develop their web presence and digital know-how on the spot.

The first two days of the conference will mix academic papers and artist presentations, with keynotes from Naomi Alderman on her prize-winning blockbuster independent game Zombies! Run. and the Literary Platform’s Sophie Rochester on the intersection between writing and technology.

Text on Screens: Making Discovering, Teaching will continue the conversation started at the first MIX Conference in 2012; through a series of high quality papers and presentations of creative works we’ll be talking about text on screen in the many forms it takes including fiction, video, poetry, mobile, locative, and site specific works, non-fiction, games, text-based digital art, and other electronic, hybrid forms. We will discuss classic texts as they are re-imagined for digital platforms and will look at how these works are taught and what they mean for the future of literature.

Mix Digital Conference 2013: Text on Screens; Making/Discovering/Teaching

Date: 15 -17 July 2013

Location: Corsham, England

BOOKING NOW here.