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.

The Writing Platform is looking to commission articles of approx 750 to 2,000 words on the established and emerging methods of digital activism, and new approaches to advocating for social change through storytelling. This might include, for example, innovations in community digital storytelling, immersive technologies to amplify under-represented voices, social media narratives, transmedia activism and sharable place-based stories about the climate emergency. The deadline for submission is 15th March 2021 and articles will be published on The Writing Platform website between April and June 2021.

Your proposed article might fit into one of the following categories; 

Resource: for example, a how-to guide for community activism using storytelling technologies.

Research: for example, an overview of a collaborative research project or an examination of the effectiveness of these forms of activism.

Experience: for example, an account of a social change project or campaign you have been part of.

News: for example, highlighting a new project or opportunity in the field that our readers might not have heard of before.

Projects:  a case study of an especially innovative or inspiring project with impactful outcomes. 

We have a small commissioning fund for freelancers. 

To propose an article, email Amy Spencer (a.spencer@bathspa.ac.uk) with a 100 word overview of your idea and tell us which category or categories it would best fit into. 

The Writing Platform is looking to commission articles of approx 750 to 2,000 words on aspects of innovative audio storytelling, from podcasts and interactive storytelling using smart speakers, to binaural storyscapes and audio walks. We are interested in experimentation, personalisation and playfulness with form and content. The articles will be published on The Writing Platform website between January and March 2021.

Your proposed article might fit into one of the following categories; 

Resource: for example, a how-to guide on an aspect of audio storytelling.

Research: for example, an overview of a research project from an academic or practitioner perspective.

Experience: for example, an account of an audio experience that you have experienced or developed.

News: for example, highlighting a new project or opportunity in the field that our readers might not have heard of before.

Projects:  for example, a reflection on a project that you have developed or one that you have been inspired by. 

We are also looking for articles on digital storytelling in activism and social change, to be published on The Writing Platform between April and June 2021, and in virtual, augmented and mixed reality to be published between July and September 2021. 

We are looking for 750 – 2,000 word articles, including 2 to 3 images. We have a small commissioning fund for freelancers. 

To propose an article, email Amy Spencer (a.spencer@bathspa.ac.uk) with a 100 word overview of your idea and tell us which category or categories it would best fit into. 

We have a rolling deadline for submissions and would advise you getting in touch asap to discuss your proposed article. 

Storytelling forms an integral part of our understanding of the world. Historically, traditional literary forms saw us give entirely to the storyteller as a submissive listener, but with the rise of technology and an ever-growing experience economy we are leaning more and more towards active consumption. Theatre, traditionally seen as a passive experience, is rapidly embracing more experiential and personalised forms whilst gaming is seeing record growth. Immersive events, such as Secret Cinema, have pushed the boundaries of cinematic interaction. This emerging market means we increasingly expect to have more agency and interaction in our experiences – with the recent Olafur Eliasson exhibit at Tate Modern being a strong example of this. How could this type of interaction benefit readers and augment stories?

Whilst demand for experiences is rapidly increasing, research from the National Literacy Trust has shown that reading for pleasure dramatically decreases in young people after they leave primary school. In this transfer to secondary education, the gap between students’ reading ability and their age grows wider each year and reading enjoyment levels in children and young people decreased in 2018. At the same time, findings from The Centre for Longitudinal Studies showed that reading for pleasure has a four times greater impact on academic success than one parent having a degree, as well as finding a link to young readers being more likely to succeed after education and have more robust mental health. What is the potential for short-form narrative and how can storytellers innovate the format to create captivating content for readers?

Last month, we launched Alternarratives, a new £15,000 prize for short story told in an innovative format – in its pilot year, the prize will focus on helping young people re-engage with reading. So what sort of ideas are we looking for? There are brilliant examples out there of writers exploring this territory. Breathe, created by Kate Pullinger in collaboration with Editions at Play and Ambient Literature, is a ghost story that personalises itself for every reader through APIs (application programming interfaces) that pull data from your phone, including place, weather and time, into the narrative. Back in 2011 the writers of The Thick of It created Malcolm Tucker: The Missing iPhone. The idea was that Malcolm Tucker had lost his phone, you’ve now found it and can hack into his emails, messages and voicemail to unravel a scandal. It became the first app to be nominated for a BAFTA, showing the true potential of this emerging platform.

Ultimately, we believe writers hold the key to good stories. We’re looking for bold ideas that push the boundaries of writing to find the most exciting examples of short-form narrative that can help inspire young people to read for pleasure. The focus of Alternarratives is written word, but we’re asking writers to consider what tools they could use to elevate the experience. Could a reader access stories online at the site of the scene? Could multiple contributors help change the ending for a character? We want to hear your ideas. Entries do not have to be digital, but any technology used should be easily accessible and distributable – think phones and computers, not VR and headsets!

Interested in applying or want to know more? Find out more details and submit your proposal before 13 January 2020. You can also follow the conversation @nesta_uk #Alternarratives

“Is the smartphone – always with us, always on – the perfect reading device?” – Kate Pullinger (Writer and Professor of Creative Writing and Digital Media at Bath Spa University)

The newly launched Beyond the Book commission is for digital writers with a connection to the South West of England who want to answer this question.

Developed by creative writing incubator Paper Nations and The Writing Platform’s editorial director Kate Pullinger, this newly launched commission has been created to challenge writers to develop innovative models for writing and publication and promote dialogue between writers, technologists and publishers.

A commission of up to £5,000 is available for three writers with a connection to Somerset, Wiltshire or Gloucestershire (in the UK) to spend six months experimenting with the possibilities of using a smartphone to tell stories. This might involve paying a creative technologist to help you bring an idea into reality, to help develop your own digital skills, to buy tech or pay for writing time.

The commission is looking to support text-based works, which could include text shared through audio (but not films that focus only on visual images, scripts, or plays). Projects could look at how text is experienced on a screen, or how the functions of a smartphone, such as sensors, cameras, or GPS, can be used to tell a story. Digital writers might want to develop a work of ambient literature, an experiment in augmented reality, or a poetry film. Or something completely new.

Beyond the Book’s selection panel brings together experts in the field; Maja Thomas (Hachette Publishing’s Chief Innovation Officer and Director of the Innovation Program), Louisa Adjoa Parker (Writer and Immersion Fellow in the South West Creative Technology Network), Steve Hollyman (Programme Coordinator and Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at Bath Spa University) and Andy Wood (Creative Technologist at Kaleider, Exeter).

Paper Nations will support commissioned writers to create a finished digital work, which will be showcased at a premiere in Bath, UK, in spring 2020, and at Bath Spa University’s MIX 2021 – a leading conference on writing and technology. Writers will also create a series of short articles for The Writing Platform.

This commission has been developed as part of Paper Nations’ 2019-21 Writing for All programme, which works to increase innovation and diversity the the South West of the UK.

Writers can apply at www.papernations.org and until 1st September 2019. Successful applicants will be announced in October 2019.

Email writers@papernations.org for more information.

Digital Pathways workshop are offering a limited number of scholarships for the:

Pathways: Creating Digital Fiction with Kate Pullinger workshops 

June 9 – 13 2014 

The Writing Platform editor and award-winning author and digital fiction pioneer Kate Pullinger will be running a Digital Pathways summer school in Vancouver this June; a week-long immersive writing/authoring workshop, aimed at writers who wish to explore digital fiction, developers who want to explore literary works, and publishers interested in new models for writing, reading, and collaborating in fiction.

For more information and to apply for the scholarships please see the Digital Pathways website.

Paid places are $1200.00 CDN