The second public event in the British Library Digital Conversations series will take place at 6pm on 4 November 2013 in the British Library staff cafe. This event will focus on the rise of interactive narratives enabled by the digital transformations taking place around us.

It doesn't make much (and the recent record-breaking success of Grand Theft Auto 5 is a case in point here) to realise that videogames and reality television have brought interactive narratives into almost every home and every pocket, onto almost every screen. But what does this mean for the medium libraries hold in the greatest volume - the book? How and to what extent must it adapt to exploit the interactive possibilities of the digital?

Featuring panellists of old and new media alike - our stellar panel include Professor Andrew Burn from the Institute of Education, Professors Gail Marshall and Joanne Shattock from the University of Leicester), the author Iain Pears, and the writer/designer Robert Sherman - this event seeks to address these questions, and more. It will ask how the web is blurring the distinction between authors and readers. It will explore ways in which authors and publishers are using digital narrative to engage with new audiences. And it will consider the case for there being a long history of interactive fiction (think Victorian serial fiction, board games, Choose Your Own Adventure novels, fan fiction...)  and how far that history challenges claims to the novel character of digital interactive narratives.

Interactivity!

Tickets are free and can be booked through Eventbrite. Places are however limited and there are only a handful left, so if you are unable to get a ticket we'll be recording the whole event, tweeting veracuiously throughout (hashtag #bldigital), sharing the major discussion points here, and publishing the whole thing as a podcast shortly after.

 

James Baker, Digital Curator

@j_w_baker