“New Media” refers to literature that is presented utilizing the computer--sometimes referred to as digital literature or cyber-text. There are several forms. Hyperfiction (hypertext fiction) includes hyperlinks to present narratives that are non-linear or multi-linear. Hyperpoetry (hypertext poetry, cyber-poetry, e-poetry) presents poems that are more visual than traditional print poetry, often utilizing movement and sometimes sound or images. Some game-like or puzzle-solving narrative forms, called Interactive Fiction, are also considered New Media.
This website presents results of an Endowed Faculty Chair grant that I received from Kirkwood Community College for 2005-2006. The awards were initiated to honor former Kirkwood president Dr. Norm Nielsen upon his December 2004 retirement. Major donations to the Kirkwood Foundation made the new faculty support program possible, providing funding for special projects in faculty members’ fields.
Other studies that led me to these conclusions include a 2004 professional development grant from Kirkwood to study hyperfiction and a 1997 focus grant funded by the National Endowment for the Humanities to study intersections of fiction and technology.
In these pages, I have included definitions of three sub-genres, links to noteworthy works of online hyper-literature, references to relevant literary theory, and a list of activities for new media classes or workshops. Some final thoughts are included on the page called “Is New Media Literature?”
My thanks to the following for their kind assistance: Brooks Landon, Thom Swiss, Brian Stefans, and Benjamin Basan of the University of Iowa; Katherine Hayles of UCLA; the Kirkwood Foundation's board and donors; and English Department Dean Allison York, who unfailingly encourages my endeavors.
Susan Boyd English, Professor, English Department
Kirkwood Community College, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
site first posted March 2006, updated periodically