Writing in the internet age has changed the way we share prose with the world. Every time we post a piece online it has the potential to reach billions of readers, even a single publisher who could change the course of our lives. The Digital Writers’ Festival aims to unite and inspire writers everywhere – it’s held entirely online, and this year it runs from 1 to 11 November.
Originating in Melbourne, Australia, a UNESCO City of Literature, DWF invites emerging writers from all over the world to participate in an innovative 11-day program, made up of panels, workshops and online collaborative events. Panel discussions are free to join, streamed on YouTube Live and archived so audiences can catch up when it suits. Other sites that facilitate the event include TinyLetter, Genius.com, Google Docs and SoundCloud), internet connection to join in.
The only festival of its kind in the world, Digital Writers’ Festival is held entirely online, with writers from around the world attending panels and workshops live via YouTube. Audiences can dial in from where ever they are, too.
Workshops led by industry professionals on topics as broad as live readings, podcast creation, finding your critical writing voice, crafting speculative fiction, demystifying and navigating superannuation for writers, launching a magazine and editing tips. Pictured: Yassmin Abdel-Magied
Stella Miles Franklin’s classic Australian romance My Brilliant Career will be the focus on the Digital Writers’ Festival Book Club where audiences can annotate the text using Genius.com, encouraging readers to see this masterpiece through a contemporary lens of criticism and celebration.
Panels discussing how writers balance the print and digital divide, the strength required to write politically online, what it means to be a writer from the Australian suburbs, and how you write for podcasts. Pictured: Mia
Khalid Warsame
DWF and the International Literature Showcase pair up five Australian writers with five UK writers and ask each pair to create a project together, to be revealed over the course of the festival. Pictured: Honor Eastly
In partnership with the Wheeler Centre, Women of TinyLetters sees audiences receive emails from leading writers, writing to themselves at 13, 43, and 73, with a live reading and discussion taking place on November 4 on the nature of letter writing today.
Noyuka Gorrie
Dan Thorpe
Bethany Atkinson-Quinton
Ben Walter
Ash Davies
Annabel Brady-Brown
Anna Barnes
Perks of Being a Wallflower
New DWF Director Jane Howard said,
“This year we ask our audiences to consider the broad possibilities for writing for the internet. In the Internet Age we have unsurpassed means of expression and communication so the possibilities for writers are limited only by our imagination. We want to unlock some of those possibilities in writers over the eleven days of the festival.”
Hey Rhy – Tegan Webb
Back for its third year, the DWF is organised by the team behind the Emerging Writers’ Festival who work to develop, nurture and promote Australia’s new writing talent through a vibrant year-round calendar of events.
About the Emerging Writers’ Festival
EWF operates year-round providing opportunities for emerging writers to develop professionally and supporting them to engage with new audiences. For more information, visit the Emerging Writers’ Festival website.
Need to know:
- Digital Writers’ Festival 2016 runs from 1-11 NOVEMBER 2016
- Anyone in the world with an internet connection is invited to participate in or watch DWF.
- For the full program, please visit the Digital Writers’ Festival website.
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