New Media Writing Prize announces winners

30 November 2012

Prize creator Dr Jim Pope with winners Katharine Norman and Kristi Barnett and if:bookâ??s Chris Meade The prize encourages new and exciting forms of media - with winners praised for their use of innovation and technology.

Bournemouth University hosted the New Media Writing Prize 2012, now in its third year, with the winners announced during an entertaining awards ceremony.

The overall winner of this year's Prize was Katharine Norman for her piece 'Window'; an interactive work that involves the reader exploring and changing settings to view different elements of the story.

This year there was also a People's Choice Award, where the public were invited to vote online for their favourite 'new media' piece. The winner of this award was Kristi Barnett for her unconventional story, called 'Hurst', where the story of fictional character @KarenBarley unravels through a Twitter timeline–style presentation.

The prize was set up to celebrate and promote writing that makes excellent use of 'new media' techniques, which could also be described as something unique that is not presented through traditional forms such as print, film or stage.

There was also time during the awards ceremony for a panel discussion on the future of media and the definition of 'new media', chaired by if:book's Chris Meade.

Prize organiser and Bournemouth University academic Dr Jim Pope said before the awards, "This year we have had entries from across the world; from Africa, Asia, America, Canada and the UK, with two Americans in the shortlist. The really best pieces grab you straight away, they are really intuitive. It is a field that is going to be huge and this competition is the only one of its kind in the world to promote this kind of writing and innovation."

To view the entries in full, or for more information about the award, please visit the New Media Writing Prize website.

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