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Podcast

Dr. Ellen Wiles on Live Literature and Leaping Over Literary Boundaries

Orla Mackinnon and Yudi Wu

In this podcast for The Lit Issue 4, Ellen tells our host Orla Mackinnon how in-person events enable people to interpret a text differently through the way it’s performed, and the sensory impact of a ‘temporal liveness.’

Author Dr Ellen Wiles defies categorisation. With a First-class honours degree in music from Oxford University, Ellen went on to become a human rights barrister, and is now a successful novelist and creative writing lecturer.

In her book Live Literature: The Experience and Cultural Value of Literary Performance Events from Salons to Festivals, Ellen explores the growing phenomenon of live literature events and their cultural value. One of her latest projects has been creating soundwalks that explore the subjects of ecology and climate change. 

In this podcast for The Lit Issue 4, Ellen tells our host Orla Mackinnon how in-person events enable people to interpret a text differently through the way it’s performed, and the sensory impact of a ‘temporal liveness.’ The “togetherness” of an event changes us – not figuratively but literally. When we experience a live event together our “hearts beat in synchrony”, affecting not just our live experience, but our memories too.

Listen to it below.

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