DIGITAL writers in Wiltshire are being invited to enter a South West competition offering three £5,000 commissions to the winners.

Beyond the Book has been launched by creative writing incubator Paper Nations and author Kate Pullinger, Professor of Creative Writing and Digital Media at Bath Spa University, who will chair the selection panel.

Professor Pullinger, who developed Beyond the Book, added: “Beyond the Book is providing a unique set of opportunities for writers to experiment with new forms of storytelling.

“What happens to text when you place it on a screen? Is the smartphone - always with us, always on - the perfect reading device?

“We are thrilled to offer these commissions, and can’t wait to see the works produced by the winners!”

The commissions were announced as part of Paper Nations’ 2019-21 Writing for All programme, which works to increase innovation and diversity.

Beyond the Book and the overarching Writing for All programme were both launched at Bath Spa University’s MIX 2019 conference focusing on experiential storytelling in July.

Digital writers with links to the upper South West region comprising Somerset, Wiltshire and Gloucestershire, can apply for a commission to develop a digital writing piece or project.

Three writers will be awarded a commission of up to £5,000 each, with winners announced in October. The deadline for entries is Sunday, September 1.

The commission challenges writers to develop innovative models for writing and publication. Applications can be from solo writers or partnerships of writers and technologists.

The commission asks applicants to be inventive; to use functions such as GPS and phone cameras. Stories must be mostly text-based, but should be innovative and experimental.

Beyond the Book has attracted the attention of publishers and writers alike, including Hachette Publishing’s Chief Innovation Officer and Director of the Innovation Program, Maja Thomas and Forward Prize highly commended writer, Louisa Adjoa Parker.

The selection panel is made up of Maja Thomas; Louisa Adjoa Parker, writer and Immersion Fellow in the South West Creative Technology Network; Steve Hollyman, Programme Co-ordinator and Senior Lecturer in Creative Writing at Bath Spa University, and Andy Wood, Creative Technologist at Kaleider, Exeter.

Maja said: “As both a book lover and digital enthusiast, I am excited to see how mobile technology and the writer’s imagination can create new and compelling experiences and advance the art of storytelling. Beyond the Book will bring fresh perspectives to this creative frontier.”Commission winners will showcase their work to international audiences and also write features for The Writing Platform - a collaboration between Bath Spa University and Queensland Institute of Technology, which shares digital knowledge with writers.

Professor Bambo Soyinka, Executive Development Producer of Paper Nations and Bath Spa Professor of Story, said: “Technology is changing the way we use, share and absorb information; it’s changing how we tell and read stories.

“At a time when young people are allegedly more interested in phones than books, story writing and sharing have to evolve beyond the confines of the traditional novel.”

Read more about Beyond the Book and apply now on www.papernations.org.