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by Stephanie McPherson

Electronic Literature Excites at MLA 2012

April 18, 2012 in ELO by Stephanie McPherson


(above: the MLA 2012 Electronic Literature Exhibit promo video)

2012 marks the 20th anniversary of the first session at the MLA on electronic literature, and, fittingly, the ELO was a strong force at this year’s conference this past January.

A number of projects were showcased, making use of multiple platforms, including desktops (curated by Dene Grigar), mobile devices (curated by Kathi Inman Berens) and live performance (curated by Lori Emerson).

The stories told this year made an impact on all who came to see them. The exhibit was covered by electronic literature experts from around country—Laurie N. Taylor, Digital Humanities Librarian at the University of Florida said “The E-Lit Exhibit is an excellent example of making scholarship count in terms of impact, return on investment, engagement, and all of the other work that scholarship ideally endeavors to achieve.”

The exhibit was featured in Digital Humanities Now, and got a shout-out in HASTAC’s article on the MLA conference, called “Once More with Feeling”: How the MLA Found Its Heart. References to the exhibit made their way into scholarly databases, and even new scholarship and creative output was generated by people involved with the exhibit.

You can find more on the MLA exhibit here, and can view videos of the performances here

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by Mark Marino

New Article Covers History of ELO

March 26, 2012 in ELO by Mark Marino

In the latest issue of dichtung digital, Scott Rettberg, co-founder and Vice President of ELO, reviews the history of the organization from its inception.

According to Rettberg, the article attempts “to provide a relatively comprehensive history of our accomplishments from 1999 to date.” Recounting its development from its early days at Brown University to its current HQ at MIT, the article offers an important review of the evolution of the organization into its current international community of artists and critics.

The issue, co-edited by Rettberg and Patricia Tomaszek focuses on e-lit communities and is the first of a two-part series. Rettberg and Tomaszek work together on the research project Developing a Network-Based Creative Community: Electronic Literature as a Model of Creativity and Innovation in Practice (ELMCIP).

The international collection of authors include Simon Biggs and Penny Travlou, Philippe Bootz, Serge Bouchardon, Donna Leishman, ELO-President Nick Montfort and Emily Short, ELO Director Stuart Moulthrop, Jill Walker Rettberg, Hans Kristian Rustad, and Rob Witig.

The articles cover the histories of communities ranging from the print literary world to IF to works of Flash and beyond. This first part of the series offers a key collection of histories for any student of electronic literature.

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by Mark Marino

CFP: Translating E-Literature (3/15, 6/12-14/12)

February 9, 2012 in Calls by Mark Marino

A number of ELO’s recent initiatives, including our participation in the CELL consortium, have focused on strengthening the network of artists and critics across national and linguistic boundaries.  As translation becomes THE question for a truly global community of electronic literature, consider the following call issued by Yves Abrioux.

International Conference

Translating E-Literature

Université Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis, June 12-14, 2012

Call for Papers

The first international conference on translating E-literature will take place from 12 to 14 June at the Universities of Paris 8 Vincennes-Saint-Denis and Paris 7 Diderot Denis. The conference is organized by OTNI: Objets textuels non identifiés (UTO: Unidentified Textual Objects), a research project into the evolution of textuality in the digital age. It is supported by the Electronic Literature Organization.

E-literature is an emphatically global phenomenon. Its authors are of many different nationalities. Sometimes they write in a form of global English. The reception of E-literature nevertheless raises issues which are far from being exclusively discursive in nature. It also involves criteria that are visual (screen display, graphics, color…), dynamic (screen animations) or kinetic (reader/players’ actions and movements). These dimensions extend far beyond the competences traditionally required of readers of literary works on paper. They are often highly culture-specific. A new semiotics, a new rhetoric and a new poetics are needed if the analysis of these aspects of E-literature is to progress properly. It is impossible to translate works of E-literature without paying detailed attention to them. Thus, translation does not simply provide materials for research into E-literature. It is a research activity in itself – a form of theoretical practice.

The conference will explore a wide range of questions concerning the translation of works of E-literature. It welcomes proposals relating to:

  •  globalized English and vernacular languages;
  •  transposing screen displays from one culture to another;
  •  the cultural specificity of dynamical figures;
  •  technology and gesture in local cultures;
  •  digital technology as a medium of translation and/or transformation;
  •  …

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by Mark Marino

ELO at MLA12

January 4, 2012 in ELO by Mark Marino

In addition to the galleries and e-lit reading at MLA12 in Seattle this weekend, a number of ELO Board members will be presenting papers. Here is a handy list.

Dene Grigar

532. Reading Writing Interfaces: Electronic Literature’s Past and Present
Saturday, 7 January, 1:45–3:00 p.m., 613, WSCC
“Early Authors of E-Literature, Platforms of the Past”

730. New Media Narratives and Old Prose Fiction
Sunday, January 8, 1:45-3:00 p.m. in 310, WSCC
“Contrasts and Convergences of Electronic Literature”

Carolyn Guertin

301. Reconfiguring Publishing
Saturday, January, 7, 1:45–3:00 p.m., Grand A, Sheraton
Program arranged by the MLA Committee on Information Technology
Presiding: Carolyn Guertin, Univ. of Texas, Arlington; William Thompson, Western Illinois Univ.

Margie Luesebrink

532. Reading Writing Interfaces: Electronic Literature’s Past and Present
Saturday, 7 January, 1:45–3:00 p.m., 613, WSCC
“Seven Types of Interface in the Electronic Literature Collection Volume Two”

Nick Montfort

730. New Media Narratives and Old Prose Fiction
Sunday, January 8, 1:45-3:00 p.m. in 310, WSCC
“Computing Language and Poetry”

Rita Raley

301. Reconfiguring Publishing
Friday, January, 6, 1:45–3:00 p.m., Grand A, Sheraton
Program arranged by the MLA Committee on Information Technology

410. Reconfiguring the Literary: Narratives, Methods, Theories
Saturday, January 7, 8:30–9:45 a.m., 608, Washington State Convention Center
Program arranged by the Association for Computers and the Humanities

Stephanie Strickland

532. Reading Writing Interfaces: Electronic Literature’s Past and Present
Saturday, 7 January, 1:45–3:00 p.m., 613, WSCC
“Seven Types of Interface in the Electronic Literature Collection Volume Two”

Joe Tabbi

730. New Media Narratives and Old Prose Fiction
Sunday, January 8, 1:45-3:00 p.m. in 310, WSCC
“New Media: Its Use and Abuse for Literature and for Life”

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by Mark Marino

E-lit Exhibit and Performance at MLA 2012

December 23, 2011 in ELO, Events by Mark Marino

E-lit MLA LogoElectronic literature will take center stage at the 2012 Modern Language Association conference in Seattle thanks to Board Member Dene Grigar, Lori Emerson, and Kathi Inman Berens. The exhibit, the first of its kind at MLA, will feature over 160 works, including ELC I & II. Also featured in this collection, celebrating its 25th anniversary: Invisible Seattle, the database novel written by The Invisibles in collaboration with the people of Seattle. Kathi Inman Berens has curated an additional exhibit of e-lit works created for mobile devices.

In conjunction with these collections, Lori Emerson has organized an evening performance of electronic literature at the Richard Hugo House. The readings will feature Jim Andrews, Kate Armstrong, Ian Bogost, John Cayley, Erin Costello, Aaron Angello, Marjorie Luesebrink, Mark Marino, Nick Montfort, Brian Kim Stefans, and Stephanie Strickland.

Exhibit Location and Time
“Electronic Literature” takes place in Seattle, WA, at the Washington State Convention Center in Room 609. Exhibit times are:

Thursday, 5 January, 12 noon to 7:00 p.m.
Friday, 6 January, 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Saturday, 7 January, 9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

E-Lit Reading
Friday, 6 January, 8 p.m to 10.30 p.m.
Richard Hugo House 1634 11th Ave.
Seattle, WA 98122-2419

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by Stephanie McPherson

SUNY Buffalo E-Poetry Gallery & Events (11/17-2/18/12)

December 12, 2011 in Events by Stephanie McPherson

SUNY Buffalo hosted the 10th anniversary of E-Poetry earlier this year, and this past thursday, opened the Digital Poetry Exhibition at the UB Art Gallery. With its Electronic Poetry Center and new journal, Emerging Language Practices, SUNY Buffalo has established itself as one of the premier U.S. centers of electronic literature. The exhibit covers a trajectory of electronic poetry from its precedents and influences to today.

LANGUAGE TO COVER A WALL:
Visual Poetry Through Its Changing Media
November 17, 2011- February 18, 2012
UB Art Gallery
University at Buffalo

From the announcement:

The Digital Poetry component of Language to Cover a Wall, curated by Loss Pequeño Glazier, extends the traditions of visual poetry into present day digital poetics with an emphasis on visual, sound, video, interactive, and computational language practice, investigating digital media materiality through a variety of platforms. This part of the exhibition shows new works alongside rarely exhibited historical works crucial to the field, and presents an international range of digital poetry.
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by Stephanie McPherson

Calls for Works: ELO 2012 Gallery (11/30; 6/13-23/12)

November 6, 2011 in Calls by Stephanie McPherson

In addition to the call for presentations at the ELO 2012 conference Electrifying Literature: Affordances and Constraints, to be held in Morgantown, WV (June 20-23, 2011), the conference organizers have put out a call for works of electronic literature for a juried gallery show.

Organized by ELO Vice President, Dene Grigar, the show will run the 10 days through the end of the conference. Below is the call:

In conjunction with the Electronic Literature Organization 2012 Conference, a juried Media Arts Gallery Exhibit will be held from Wednesday, June 13 – Saturday, June 23, 2012 at The Monongalia Arts Center.

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by Stephanie McPherson

ELC2 Launch @ The Kitchen, NYC (Dec. 13)

November 4, 2011 in Events by Stephanie McPherson

Advertisement for the December 13th ELC2 launch at the Kitchen in NYC

You are invited to another launch of the Electronic Literature Collection, volume 2, this time at The Kitchen performance space (512 W. 19th Street, NYC) with a reading on Tuesday, December 13, 2011 at 7pm.

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by Mark Marino

MIT Welcomes ELO

October 25, 2011 in Events by Mark Marino

The crowd at the ELO Welcome event

The crowd at the ELO Welcome event watches one of the evening's presentations.

Electronic literature artists and enthusiasts gathered at MIT’s new Media Lab Extension building on Monday, Sept. 19 to celebrate ELO’s move its new home at the Cambridge, Massachusetts campus. The “Open Mic/Open Mouse” saw artists from MIT and abroad showcasing their work, from interactive poetry from ELO board members Fox Harrell and Robert Kendall to a series of web pages telling the tale of life at MIT – from the perspective of a student’s cat. John Cayley and his students from Brown University made the trek up to Cambridge from Rhode Island for the event.

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by Mark Marino

MIT to Host the Electronic Literature Organization

June 2, 2011 in Press, Press Release by Mark Marino

[Official Release]
MIT has long been a premier center of technological innovation. On July 1, a new locus for literary innovation will be added to the mix: The campus will begin hosting the headquarters of the Electronic Literature Organization (http://eliterature.org).

The Electronic Literature Organization, or ELO, is a 501(c)(3) non-profit 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 coming to MIT with the support of MIT’s world-renowned Comparative Media Studies (CMS) program. CMS, which has an undergraduate major, a graduate program, and several large-scale research projects, is committed to the art of thinking across media forms, theoretical domains, cultural contexts, and historical periods. The program considers media change and the rise of new forms of writing in different eras, including our current one. ELO’s supporting and collaborating organizations at MIT include the School of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences; the Program in Writing and Humanistic Studies; the Council for the Arts at MIT; Hyperstudio; the Literature Section; and the Singapore/MIT GAMBIT Game Lab.

There is already a great deal of work in electronic literature ongoing at MIT, including that being done by ELO President Nick Montfort and ELO Director Fox Harrell, who are both on the MIT faculty. The Boston area is home to several other ELO directors and to a great deal of digital art activity, thanks to organizations such as the Boston Cyberarts Festival, Turbulence.org, the AXIOM Gallery, the Upgrade! Boston series, and the People’s Republic of Interactive Fiction.

“ELO and MIT have already been successful in advancing the state of the art in electronic literature,” said Montfort. “Now, by working together, we have a chance to sustain ELO’s core operations and projects and to further MIT’s existing commitment to electronic literature. ELO’s coming to MIT will be an chance to find new opportunities for collaboration, here in Cambridge and beyond.”

ELO was founded in 1999 by novelist Robert Coover, electronic author Scott Rettberg, and Internet business leader Jeff Ballowe. The Organization was operated from an office in Chicago until it moved to UCLA in 2001. In 2006, ELO’s headquarters came to the University of Maryland’s Maryland Institute of Technology in the Humanities (MITH). “ELO’s relationships with its academic hosts have been extremely productive for the organization,” said Montfort. “We’re very grateful for the ways that UCLA and MITH have helped us to accomplish our mission, sustain and add projects, and develop as an organization. With work from ELO’s directors, members, and collaborators, we’re now going to try to establish a long-term home for ELO at MIT that will allow the organization and the campus to continue to benefit from their collaboration for many years.”

ELO’s main projects are currently a biannual conference, the Electronic Literature Directory, the Electronic Literature Collection (the second volume of which was released this past Spring: http://collection.eliterature.org) and the eliterature.org site.

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