INCUBATION3

The 3rd trAce International Symposium on Writing and the Internet

12-14 July 2004 at The Nottingham Trent University, England

The events of Monday 12th July, including the Official Welcome, are available for viewing online: http://esystems.ntu.ac.uk/broadcast/


Confirmed speakers included:
Keynote Speaker: Ted Nelson
Plus: Paul Brown, Alan Sondheim, Tim Wright
Also featuring: Kate Pullinger, Steve Gibson, Simon Widdowson

2004 saw the third Incubation, the premier international event for writers working on the web providing ideas, information and debate for the new media writing community. There were opportunities to experience recent works and lively discussions about the ways new media texts are made, discussed, and reviewed. We also explored methods of teaching and digital archiving in a creative context. Incubation aims to encourage interdisciplinary creativity and cross-fertilisation, and we were especially interested in introducing the form to writers and artists for whom it is a new idea as well as helping practitioners to share and expand their work.

Themes
The themes for 2004 were:
A.    Developing a new form: contemporary textual works in new media and performance
B.    The practice of making: creative and professional practice; online teaching and learning.
C.    Critique and criteria: criticism, reviewing, defining, and archiving of new media writing.

Incubation3 Gallery
The 2004 Incubation Gallery focuses on Women's new media writing and is curated by Carolyn Guertin. This went live at the symposium and was presented by Sue Thomas on Monday 12th July in Carolyn's absence.

Online/Offline
Starting with a mysterious invitation to select an object from the Pitt Rivers museum in Oxford, England, three writers set off on a trail which crossed continents and seas, times and religions, tracing a creative and narrative journey for Online/Offline - a collaborative narrative project developed for Incubation3 with funding from Arts Council England.

Why a Symposium?
Those familiar with Incubation will notice that Incubation3 was a Symposium rather than a Conference. This heralded a subtle shift, not in identity, but in the way we promoted the event. Incubation had always been very practice-based and in 2004 it was even more so. Thanks to Arts Council England we offered a total of 30 bursaries to enable those who cannot obtain funding elsewhere to attend the full residential conference at no charge. We hoped this injection of financial support to provide a greater balance of academia and professional writers and artists.

New at Incubation3 - bursaries for presenters and delegates
Bursaries were made available to help with the cost of attending Incubation. These were generously funded by Arts Council England: East Midlands.

Partners
Our partners and sponsors included the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts; Arts Council England: East Midlands; Nottingham Trent University, The Poetry Society and the National Health Service Information Authority.