Earlier this year The Literary Platform and Bath Spa University launched The Writing Platform, a resources site and events programme designed to support writers in the digital age.
One of our ambitions when we set up The Writing Platform was that it would provide new opportunities for writers wanting to experiment and extend their creative practice.
In April we awarded our first two Writing Platform bursaries, supported by the NALD Futures Fund. Each bursary brings together one writer and one technologist to collaborate over a three month period and we hope that this will become an annual programme.
The level of interest in the bursaries, as well as the survey we ran prior to launching The Writing Platform, demonstrated an appetite among writers to push their boundaries and try new things with new people. It also demonstrated that, for some, this desire is accompanied with some uncertainty over where to start.
It is with this in mind that we have programmed a Making Day at this year’s MIX Conference. The event is a day of experimentation, collaboration and play for writers and is designed around the themes of ‘tackling the creative process, ‘collaborating with other creators’ and ‘writing for new platforms and audiences.
Most of the day will be spent in one of the practical workshops led by an inspiring group of writers, artists and technologists whose own work blends storytelling, creativity and digital technologies. They are:
- Improv Writing with David Varela
- The Object of the Story with Stand + Stare
- Making Things Fast with Leila Johnston
- Transmedia Activism with Donna Hancox
- Exploring Branching Narrative with inkle Studios
- Telling Stories to Our Computers with Paul Rissen
- Ekphrastic e-Poetry exercises with Sarah Tremlett’s
You can find out more about the workshops and the rest of the Making Day programme here – it’s going to be full-on, hands-on and a lot of fun!
The Making day at the MIX conference takes place on Wednesday 17th July, at Bath Spa University, Corsham Court, Wiltshire. Book tickets online here.