Today sees the launch of Songs of Imagination & Digitisation, an illuminated book for the digital age, published by if:book with support from Arts Council England.
Unlike more conventional books on paper, this one contains sound and moving images, involves walks and talks, even an imaginary brain made of copper plates, plus opportunities to enter your own thoughts and ideas.
Over the next few months this book will be growing as we commission new work and discuss the themes it explores.
We’ll be gathering readers’ thoughts on where Blake lives now, talking to members of the William Blake Society about the future of the book, visiting festivals around the country and doing work in schools to explore new media opportunities for literature, and asking a range of readers and writers to contribute to the book using tools like Twitter, Flickr, Blogger and a ‘Blake Netbook’ assembled by Bill Thompson, to express their own visions of our digital future. On April 22nd Toby Jones will undertake the first of three Blakean walks devised for him by Tim Wright and report back his visions shortly afterwards.
Songs of Imagination and Digitisation is curated and produced by Toni Lebusque, Chris Meade and Sasha Hoare, with contributions from author Lisa Gee, Chair of the Blake Society Tim Heath, actor Toby Jones, poet Daljit Nagra, Professor Sue Thomas, journalist Bill Thompson, new media writer Tim Wright, a poem by the much missed poet and Blake fan, Adrian Mitchell…. and more in the pipeline.
if:book is the national charity created in 2008 to explore the future of the book in the digital age and the potential of new media for creative reading and writing.
“the literary think-tank if:book is exploding the confines of print” – WIRED UK
Read the book (for free) at www.songsofimaginationanddigitisation.net
For further details contact:
—
Chris Meade
if:book
The Future of the Book
tel: 07968 018115
www.futureofthebook.org.uk
www.bookfutures.blogspot.com
chris [at] futureofthebook.org.uk
magical musical graphical digital fiction: www.insearchoflosttim.net
experiments in reading:
www.thegoldennotebook.org
www.songsofimaginationanddigitisation.net