Sue Thomas

In Memorium: Millie Niss

2009-12-02T16:34:35+00:00

I read today that net artist Millie Niss died in Amherst on November 29, 2009 aged 36. I met Millie when she travelled to England for the 2004 trAce Conference where she ran a workshop on Sound Poetry in Flash and trAce also published her article Why I Write for the Web in November of that year. Her quirky website Sporkworld attracted much attention and affection in new media writing circles.

It is a sad loss that she should pass away so young.

Transliteracy Research Blog, Forum & Conference + New Media Writing Lecture Archive

2009-10-13T17:23:20+01:00

Lots of news from me today, and all about transliteracy. A new website, a new forum, and a One Day Conference!

Since transliteracy research began at DMU in 2005 under the umbrella of PART (Production & Research in Transliteracy), group members have produced a significant range of projects, events, presentations and publications, stimulating an informal research network around the theory and practice of transliteracy.

Kate Pullinger and I have now established The Transliteracy Research Group with the aim of focusing PART's work yet more closely. TRG will continue to draw in a broad coalition of theorists and practitioners, both from DMU and other international institutions and organizations, whilst continuing to develop our already strong links with business, local community, and the broader cultural sector. A major strength of transliteracy events at DMU is that participants have come from academia, the arts, information sciences, pedagogical researchers, and the creative industries, and this has impacted in many different areas.

The Transliteracy Research Group (TRG), is a research-focussed think-tank and creative laboratory. The public face of the group resides here, on a new blog run by Kate and I, with regular contributions from the following De Montfort staff, Phd students, and graduates of the online MA in Creative Writing and New Media: Tia Azulay, Heather Conboy, Gareth Howell, Anietie Isong, Jess Laccetti, Kirsty McGill, and Christine Wilks.

Please join us as we develop this new field of academic research. You can contribute via comments to the blog or join the forum community 'Transliteracy Notes', designed by Gareth Howell.

As well as the new research group, we would like to bring to your attention a new resource, the Creative Writing and New Media Archive, an archive of all the Guest Lectures given during the four years of the online MA in Creative Writing and New Media. This archive contains lectures from theorists and practitioners as varied as Christy Dena, Rita Raley, Alan Sondheim, Caitlin Fisher, and John Cayley. Created by CWNM graduate and digital artist Christine Wilks, this resource will be of value to practitioners, students and academics with an interest in transliteracy, digital fiction, digital art, e-poetry, and cross-media. Please feel free to use this archive and discuss it in 'Transliteracy Notes'.

We will be hosting a day-long Transliteracy Conference on Tuesday 9 Feb, 2010, at the brand-new Phoenix Square Digital Media Centre, Leicester, UK. Please watch for our Call for Presentations, going out next week.

Senior Technomad

2009-10-03T08:40:49+01:00

My close friends and family are well aware that one of my major preoccupations is choosing a place to 'retire' to. I use the ' ' because of course writers never actually stop working, but unless the law is changed soon I will have to leave my university job in 7 years' time. For years I've wondered where I would end up in my 'retirement'. I grew up by the sea and aim to return to the coast when I am no longer tied to a physical workplace. But which coast? First choice would be California, but that's too far from my family and there are other logistical issues, money not the least of them. Ideally I would commute between a seaside home in CA and one in the UK but only if I suddenly get very rich (unlikely).

This year I've started to look into the possibilities of not having a home at all. I could put my stuff into storage, sell or rent my apartment, and use the proceeds to become a senior technomad. There are plenty of examples to inspire me. The Snowbirds are famous retirees who travel North America, following the good weather in their motorhomes and checking back at their storage facilities occasionally until eventually they discard even those possessions and simply wander free. Then there are the technomads, like Chris Dunphy and Cherie Ve Ard aka Technomadia. I heard them speak at ETech this year and was very energised by their wired on-the-road lifestyle. I guess I'm already a bit of a technomad because I work on the road a lot, but not as often as many people. Journalist Bill Thompson, for example, is taking it a step further by spending a nomadic month during the coming weeks. You may or may not be able to follow his journey because he may or may not be posting from the road, but I suspect his Twitter feed will be the easiest way to find him.

I'll be watching his experience with interest as I continue to work on my post-proper-job strategy. One thing I've realised this year is that the anxiety about finding the best place to retire to has finally subsided because I now understand that my real all-time favourite location is cyberspace and that can be with me wherever I am, so long as the wherever has a good view of the beach and a comfy table and chair. I'm looking forward to hitting the road as a senior technomad.

New story by Anietie Isong

2009-09-24T21:31:59+01:00

Anietie Isong is my PhD student and a very talented young fiction writer and researcher. His PhD examines African Writers and the Internet, but he writes for print too. His short story Devotion has been selected for inclusion in a new anthology Roads Ahead edited by Catherine O'Flynn for Tindal Street Press. He recently completed a first novel too.