QUT has become the Australian partner of a free online resource that arms writers and poets with digital knowledge.
Established in 2012, UK-based The Writing Platform includes a website, bursary scheme and live events program dedicated to helping writers understand their creative and career options in the digital age.
Dr Donna Hancox, a Creative Writing and Literary Studies senior lecturer at QUT, is the initiative's Australian Project Editor.
"The traditional publishing model is changing. Ebook sales are outstripping physical book sales and writers can now bypass publishing houses entirely to publish their works online and immediately interact with audiences." Dr Hancox said.
"But digital writing is also about finding different ways to tell stories, incorporating film, audio, images. It expands the possibilities of how writers write their stories, how they connect with audiences and the ways in which they think about storytelling.
"The Writing Platform incorporates information about new models and also innovations in the existing models of writing and publishing to allow writers to make choices best suited to their work."
Dr Hancox's role will include commissioning original works for the platform and arranging for Australian and Asia-Pacific writers to share their experiences with new tools and processes.
"There's currently no one place for local writers, readers and the publishing industry to see what's happening here in the digital writing space - to see where the experimentation is occurring and who's leading those exciting projects," she said.
"The Writing Platform is the international hub of information and experimentation around the intersection of books and technology.
"Our partnership means we're able to showcase the innovations happening across the Asia Pacific region internationally - for our thinkers and writers to contribute to that growing conversation, which they haven't been able to do before."
The Writing platform is designed for emerging, established, published and unpublished writers, providing neutral and best-practice information about writing in the digital age.
Current contributors include Margaret Atwood, Philip Hensher, Naomi Alderman and Porter Anderson.
QUT's Creative Industries Faculty Assistant Dean of Research and Business Development, Professor Helen Klaebe, said the partnership would also encourage greater collaborating between local writers and their European peers.
"Our faculty is excited to partner with The Writing Platform to explore digital futures for writers and equip them with the tools they may need for a diverse writing future," she said.
"We are looking forward to combining our research skills and creative networks with the expertise of The Writing Platform to deliver innovative content and spark discussion from the Asia Pacific region."
Joanna Ellis, co-founder of The Writing Platform and COO of its parent, The Literary Platform, said it was an honour to work with such a forward-thinking institution.
"We are delighted to be welcoming QUT on board as official partners to The Writing Platform - it's a real vote of confidence in the work we are doing," Ms Ellis said.
"This partnership allows us to expand the resources we offer writers and develop our work in different territories."
Media contacts:
• Kate Haggman, QUT Media, 07 3138 0358, kate.haggman@qut.edu.au. After hours Rose Trapnell 0407 585 901
• Laura Creyke, laura@theliteraryplatform.com
About The Literary Platform
The Literary Platform is a specialist organisation working at the heart of books and technology. In 2013 it was selected for the British Council Creative Economy's list of Top Ten UK Creative Entrepreneurs, and in the Guardian Professional/h.Club 100 list of most innovative and influential in the creative industries 2013.
It works with a wide range of clients, academic institutions and other organisations on research projects looking at the impact of technology on writers and publishing, as well as conceiving and producing its own projects with funding from Arts Council England and NALD such as The Writing Platform and Fiction Uncovered.
