Last week Penguin UK and De Montfort University launched A Million Penguins, a first-of-a-kind experiment in creative writing and collaboration based on the wiki principle. For the next six weeks, anyone logging in at the site will be able to contribute to the novel in progress or edit the work already there. The wiki is accompanied by a blog where a Penguin editor provide s a running editorial commentary on the work in progress. It is managed by Kate Pullinger along with students from the online MA in Creative Writing and New Media who form the seeds of the community.

It’s a fascinating experiment, and so far feedback on the project seems to generally be positive: see for example

Gerard Beirne
Naresh Kumar K
Spotback.com
brandsizzle.com
Waiting for I/O
Let’s Get Talking
Nicolai Wadstrom
Impressions Scholarcast
Sonnet Media

For more information see http://books.guardian.co.uk/news/articles/0,,2003520,00.html

Contribute at http://www.amillionpenguins.com