ELTWeekly Vol. 5 Issue#16 | May 13, 2013 | ISSN 0975-3036
The Higher Education Academy Discipline Workshop and Seminar Series, 2012-13
This unique one day event will reflect on the teaching of post-millennial literature in HE and FE and interrogate the use of digital and social technologies in teaching, assessment and creative writing to offer this emerging field as a new and directional source of understanding and inspiration for contemporary students, scholars, publishers and authors.
E-readers and e-books enjoy an increasing influence over the ways we consume literature in the twenty first century. Whether we turn to new digital platforms to disguise our secret Mills and Boon habit or to display our technological skills, these new forms have already changed the ways in which we consume and experience literature. In dialogue with the printed book, the e-book has been instrumental in generating debate, new writings and innovative content and has enriched our literary experience in the twenty-first century. At present the two co-exist, but how long until the e coup?
E-books offer multi-media content, hyperlinks to other e-resources, cut and paste facilities, regularly updated content and interactivity which printed books are simply unable to match. In a world where popular texts such as newspapers, blogs, Twitter feeds and Facebook updates are read online, e-books speak to a generation for whom instant access and ease of use are key factors in contemporary cultural encounters. Light, fast, clear and easy to navigate, the e-reader is in many ways the ideal companion of the twenty-first century book lover. But at what cost to the printed word? Should readers be given the choice of both printed and electronic formats – or is the book set to become the vinyl of the twenty-first century?
Uniting for the first time scholars, students, writers, readers and publishers, this unique symposium will reflect on uses and impact of digital platforms on the production, consumption and uses of literature in HE and FE to offer the emerging field of twenty-first century writings as a new and directional source of understanding and creative inspiration.
The symposium will be staged as part of a wider C21 conference by the University’s Research Centre for Twenty-First Century Writings.