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Save the Date: The ELO 2024 Main Conference is coming!

We’re excited to announce that this year’s Electronic Literature Organization Conference will be fully online July 18-21 2024, hosted by UCF and colleagues from around the world. Our team is committed to crafting an intentional, impact-conscious, conference using established platforms and minimizing cost both to the organizers and participants. We hope this will provide an opportunity to come together (virtually) and reflect on paths forward during difficult times.

Please keep an eye out for our CFP, coming December 1st!

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Announcing 2023 ELO Prize Winners

2023 ELO AWARDS

The Robert Coover Award for a Work of Electronic Literature

Winner: “Anonymous Animal ” by Everest Pipkin

From the jury statement: “This intricately crafted artwork offers a distinctive 15-minute durational browser poem that operates on an hourly cycle … This artwork attests to the power of electronic literature to provoke thought, evoke emotions, and offer unique insights into the human condition and our shifting relationships with technology.

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Runner-up: “The (m)Otherhood of Meep (the bat translator)” by Alinta Krauth

From the jury statement: “This work sits at a perfect nexus of co-creation, algorithm-driven literature, and emergent text. That it is co-created not only with other humans, but primarily with another species altogether—bats—is truly remarkable … “The (m)Otherhood of Meep (the bat translator)” is a beautiful and meaningful convergence of science, literature, and human-computer interaction. It serves as an example of what amazing good we can do with our work.

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Honorable Mention: “The Decameron 2.0” by The Decameron Collective:

Jolene Armstrong, Kelly Egan, Lai-Tze Fan, Caitlin Fisher, Angela Joose, Kari Maaren, Shi-vawn Of-len, Izabella Pruska-Oldenhof, and Monique Tschofen

From the jury statement: “The Decameron 2.0” is a product of plague. Like Giovanni Boccaccio’s bebonic-plague narrative that inspired it, it is a work that arises from and conveys the experiences of the Covid-19 pandemic. The “collective” creators co-created a storyworld that can be explored through 100 works of experimental multimedia poetry… “The Decameron 2.0” not only stands out as an artistic, fun, compelling, and highly affective world of electronic literature, but also as a historical record (an archive indeed) of women during the Covid-19 pandemic.

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The N. Katherine Hayles Award for Criticism of Electronic Literature

Winner: “Neverending Stories: The Popular Emergence of Digital Fiction” by Lyle Skains

From the jury statement: “The book is a granular exploration of both the evolution of digital fiction and its impact on (and positioning in) popular culture. The author’s focus on marginalized authors/creators, as well as reframing accepted aspects of digital fiction, sets their work apart. Skains does more than justice to a complex topic with her ambitious work spanning over half a century of digital literature development.”

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Runner up: “Opera aperta: Italian Electronic Literature from the 1960s to the Present” by Emanuela Patti

From the jury statement: “The author methodically develops a theoretical framework based on Umberto Eco’s ‘open work’ concept and applies this framework to analyze a diverse range of literary and artistic forms. The book’s argument is deeply rooted in a thoughtful examination of the digital revolution in Italy and its transformative impact on avant-garde literary production.”

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Honorable mention: “Girl Online” by Joanna Walsh

From the jury statement: “a profound exploration of the intricate dynamics of online identity with a direct focus on the experiences of women. The book delves into the challenges and opportunities that arise from the process of self-creation in the digital realm … The book’s strength lies in its ability to resonate on a deeply personal level while maintaining scholarly rigor.”

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The Marjorie C. Luesebrink Career Achievement Award.

Stephanie Strickland

The jury statement reads: “Stephanie Strickland is a renowned poet whose influence in the field of electronic literature cannot be overstated. Her for-midable critical and creative practices span decades, with pioneering work in hypertext, generative and multimodal digital formats … Strickland has cultivated and shaped the field of electronic literature as we know it today, growing a broader community of creative and critical practice, and inspiring others to appreciate, and often follow, these resonant lines of poetic inquiry and insight.”

Maverick Award

Deena Larsen

Deena Larsen has been a pioneer in electronic literature for over three decades.  From her first work Marble Springs to her most recent collaborations, she has been sculpting new forms of digital art.  Spanning genres from hypertext to interactive bots to e-poetry, Larsen’s extensive collection of works includes Andromeda and Eliza, Playing with Rose, Modern Moral Fairytales, and Firefly.  Dedicated to community building, since 2020, Larsen has been hosting Second Tuesday Salons and other events for ELO,  welcoming new members and creating new venues to explore and celebrate to creative projects and scholarship.  She has also co-hosted the first ever ELO Unconference and plans to host the second under the theme Access Works in January 2024, continuing her advocacy for a more inclusive and accessible e-lit world.  Larsen’s archive is at University of Maryland, where among other wonders, scholars can find a shower curtain on which she composed a hypertext. Larsen continues to find new ground, welcoming newcomers even as she discovers it.

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CALL FOR NOMINATIONS: ELO AWARDS

The Electronic Literature Organization is proud to offer the following four prestigious awards:

  • The Robert Coover Award for a Work of Electronic Literature,
  • The N. Katherine Hayles Award for Criticism of Electronic Literature, and
  • The Marjorie C. Luesebrink Career Achievement Award.
  • The Maverick Award
2023 nominations are currently open through May 1, 2023.  You may self-nominate for the Robert Coover and N. Katherine Hayles awards but not for the Marjorie Luesebrink or Maverick awards.
Submit your nomination here.

Winners will be announced online and in-person at ELO 2023 in Coimbra, Portugal!

The Robert Coover Award for a Work of Electronic Literature is an award given for the best work of electronic literature of any length or genre. Bestowed by the Electronic Literature Organization and funded through a generous donation from supporters and members of the ELO, this annual prize aims to recognize creative excellence. The Prize for 1st Place comes with a $1000 award, with a plaque showing the name of the winner and an acknowledgement of the achievement, and a one-year membership in the Electronic Literature Organization at the Associate Level. One prize for Honorable Mention is awarded and consists of a plaque showing the name of the winner and an acknowledgement of the achievement, and a one-year membership in the Electronic Literature Organization at the Associate Level.

The N. Katherine Hayles Award for Criticism of Electronic Literature is an award given for the best work of criticism, of any length, on the topic of electronic literature. Bestowed by the Electronic Literature Organization and funded through a generous donation from N. Katherine Hayles and others, this annual prize recognizes excellence in the field. The Prize for 1st Place comes with a $1000 award, with a plaque showing the name of the winner and an acknowledgement of the achievement, and a one-year membership in the Electronic Literature Organization at the Associate Level. One prize for Honorable Mention is awarded and consists of a plaque showing the name of the winner and an acknowledgement of the achievement, and a one-year membership in the Electronic Literature Organization at the Associate Level.

The Marjorie C. Luesebrink Career Achievement Award honors a visionary artist and/or scholar who has brought excellence to the field of electronic literature and has inspired others to help create and build the field. Bestowed by the Electronic Literature Organization and funded through a generous donation, it comes with a $1000 award that can go directly to the awardee or to a young scholar who would use the funds in support of developing content for online sources about the awardee’s achievements; a plaque showing the name of the winner and an acknowledgement of the achievement; and a one-year membership in the Electronic Literature Organization at the Associate Level.

The Maverick Award is awarded  to an independent spirit: a writer, artist, researcher, programmer, designer, performer, or hybrid creator who does not adhere to a conventional path but creates their own and in so doing makes a singular contribution to the field of electronic literature.

For more information about the Awards, contact Holly Slocum, at holly at eliterature.org.

 

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ELO Fellowship Call for Applications

ELO FELLOWSHIP CALL FOR APPLICATIONS
DEADLINE 15 MARCH

The ELO is continuing its expansion of scholarly activity, creative, and curatorial practices with the appointment of four graduate and early career Research & Creative Fellows for 2023, each of whom will be awarded a $500 stipend along with a one-year ELO membership. The awards will be announced at the ELO2023 Conference in Coimbra. In the coming month, we’ll be welcoming applicants who will be working with established ELO scholars and practitioners on a variety of ELO projects, such as the Electronic Literature Directory (http://directory.eliterature.org), CELL (www.cellproject.net), The Digital Review (http://www.thedigitalreview.com), the electronic book review (https://electronicbookreview.com ), and The NEXT (https://the-next.eliterature.org/). Each of the Fellows will be expected to complete a minimum of two encyclopedic ELD entries during the term of their appointment. Fellows can also work with their supervisors to develop metadata for works in collections, creating content for the works’ exhibition spaces, writing descriptions of works in the collections or the collections themselves. 

The ELO celebrates diversity and is committed to creating an inclusive environment for the benefit of our whole community. Therefore, we actively encourage applications from individuals who are BIPOC, LGBTQ+, people with disabilities, and come from broad geographic, ethnic, and language backgrounds. We ask all applicants to consult our ELO Code of Conduct: https://eliterature.org/about/code-of-conduct/. Linguistic diversity will be particularly useful as our Fellows translate works in many languages from our growing consortium of e-lit databases. 

Applications should include a cv and one-page description of the candidate’s qualifications and approach to e-Lit scholarship. These can be sent to joseph.tabbi@uib.no.

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Unconference 17-18 January 2023

As part of the annual New Media Writing Prize, for the first time, we are hosting a fully online 2-day “unconference” symposium, 17-18 Jan 2023, hosted by BU in partnership with with the Prize and the British Library. The Unconference will culminate in the awards evening for the New Media Writing Prize on 18 January 2023.

NMWP Unconference Theme: Social Good

How can we change our world with our digital art and literature?

Our unconference call for proposals sought creative approaches to conference activities: events, works, and activities that aim to serve a social purpose (such as projects aligned with the UN Sustainable Development Goals): “Digital Literature for Social Good”. Activist projects, works for education and sustainability, events to brainstorm new digital lit approaches to improving society and culture—it’s all fair game. How can we change our world with our art and literature?

Over the past couple of months, we’ve put together a fantastic two days of discussions, workshops, artists’ talks, and brainstorming sessions. (See the schedule here.)

Join us!

Registration is open to those who would like to attend and participate in these creative sessions.

Please also join us for the ultimate event in our NMWP Unconference, the New Media Writing Prize Awards Evening, which is free and open to the public. Our keynote is Deena Larsen, creator of Marble Springs, Modern Moral Fairy Tale, and other frequently studied and taught works of electronic literature. The 2021 NMWP winner, Joannes Truyens for Neurocracy, will give a featured talk, and awards will be given for the Chris Meade Memorial Main Prize, the Journalism Prize, Student Prize, and the Opening Up Prize (which is still open for voting here!).

We hope to see you there!