ELO restores frAme Journal to the Web

frAme journal cover

Announcing the restoration of frAme: Online Journal of Culture & Technology, published by the trAce Online Writing Centre from 1995-2005, has been reconstituted and available to the public thanks to the Electronic Literature Organization (ELO, eliterature.org).

Founded by Dr. Sue Thomas at Nottingham Trent University (Nottingham, England) and edited by Simon Mills, the journal released six issues (published from 1999-2001), featuring 60 works by some of the most important names in media art and scholarship today, including: Mark Amerika, Mez Breeze, Alan Sondheim, Deena Larsen, Belinda Barnet, M. D. Coverley, Talan Memmott, Rainer Strasser, and Patrick Lichty.

“The journal represents an important cultural artifact that speaks to a time in which writers and artists were experimenting with the electronic medium and produced works that challenged traditional publication methods,” according to Dene Grigar, ELO President and Director of the Electronic Literature Lab.

The Electronic Literature Organization restored this journal through the efforts of faculty, students, and staff at the Electronic Literature Lab at Washington State University Vancouver as part of its Electronic Literature Archives initiative.

“frAme heralded a time in which scholars and artists were transcending space and time to publish freely to the unknown audience of the, then, new World Wide Web, breaking down international borders and defying print conventions,” said Grigar.

In the brief time frAme was published, web-based practices themselves changed rapidly, from how files were named to how information was coded. Besides providing insights into digital literary art and scholarship of the late 20th Century, frAme points to the changes afoot in publishing and in the communication networks linking people and ideas

Grigar added, “frAme represents the artistic and scholarly vision of a pioneering community whose influence can be felt beyond its base in Nottingham, UK. The artists and writers found in the archives hail from many countries and reflect a global perspective that the trAce Online Writing Centre sought to nurture and share.”

ELO’s future plans include resurrecting the five special issues of frAme, published from March 20, 2003-November 25, 2004, as well as the trAce site, which hosted forums, competitions, online courses, and other events and activities, and personal archives donated to ELO by trAce’s founder, Sue Thomas.

The site can be found at https://elo-repository.org/trace/.

The Electronic Literature Organization, or ELO, is A 501(c)(3) non­profit organization composed of an international community that includes writers, artists, teachers, scholars, and developers. The Organization’s focus is new literary forms that are made to be read on digital systems, including smartphones, Web browsers, and networked computers. ELO is an international organization of artists and scholars, currently based at Washington State University-Vancouver.

For more information contact:
Name: Dene Grigar
dgrigar at me.com