Beowulf - The Epic in Performance

Last night I attended a performance of Beowulf, sung in Old English and accompanied by an Anglo-Saxon harp, given by Benjamin Bagby at the British Library, in London. The event was a prelude to a new exhibition that opens this Friday.

The audience await the performance with eager anticipation.

I do not speak or read Old English, but fortunately subtitles were provided! However, that said, it was still wonderful to hear the poem being recited, for the language is so rich and expressive, and Beowulf was meant to be performed, and listened to, rather than read. The accompaniment on the harp also took it to another level altogether - with the instrument itself being used as a prop on occasion!

Mr Benjamin Bagby himself.

It was interested how much of the language I could understand, particularly when Benjamin used both his voice and actions to emphasise what was happening. There was both action and atmosphere in his performance, humour and heroic deeds, and the hour and a half passed in a flash*.

Benjamin's interpretation of the text has also given me some more ideas to try to include in Beowulf Beastslayer. The Kickstarter still has 12 days left to run and is currently 114% funded, meaning that the first Stretch Goal has been unlocked and the second is within sight.

* The performance ended with Grendel's death in the boiling pool. To recite the entire poem would take about five and a half hours!

Interactive Fiction Saturday: AdventureX 2016 and WordPlay London

For some reason, this weekend seems to be the weekend of Interactive Fiction here in London. AdventureX is enjoying its sixth(?) and biggest year, with all manner of people demoing all manner of interactive adventures over the course of the weekend at Goldsmiths University in south-east London, and yesterday saw the international WordPlay festival take over the British Library for the day. Seeing as how I live a tube ride away from central London, it seemed rude not to attend both.

Goldsmiths University, venue for AdventureX 2016.

I started at AdventureX, where I listened to a very interesting conversation with Rhianna Pratchett and briefly got the chance to say hello afterwards, and then headed back across London to the British Library, where I was appearing on a panel myself.

Rhianna Pratchett in conversation.

Both events took over their respective venues, with laptops dotted about the place and people trying out each others games (AdventureX in a stairwell/hallway, and WordPlay in the environs of the British Library). There was a real buzz at both events and it was pleasing to see that the gamebook hasn't died out, rather than it has evolved.

The British Library, venue for WordPlay London.

I arrived at WordPlay in time to hear the panel before mine, entitled 'Practical Considerations of Writerly Games' and found myself nodding away as the panellists discussed the pros and cons of crowdfunding platforms, the challenges faced by independent games designers trying to market their games, and how to actually earn any money from such ventures.

Does what it says on the tin...

And then it was time for 'Worldbuilding with Words'. Hannah Powell-Smith (creator of various interactive games in which a far bit of making out seems to take place) did a sterling job moderating our panel, on which I was joined by Helen Carmichael (whose new game 'Shadowhand' is out imminently) and Nate Crowley (who has contributed a story to the soon-to-be-Kickstarted short story anthology SHARKPUNK 2).

We discussed how to avoid overloading readers with information, pacing, design vs storytelling, creating believable worlds within a limited word count, and matching the setting to the game mechanics. (I also plugged Alice's Nightmare in Wonderland and The Wicked Wizard of Oz - a lot!)

After all that talking, it was only right that we decamped to a hostelry down the road to refresh ourselves and talk more about this business we call 'Writing'.

Thanks to everyone who came along to listen to our panel (especially loyal FF fan James Aukett) and for being such an involved and interested audience*. And here's to WordPlay London happening again next year!

* One gentlemen was taking copious notes on his laptop and I'd love to read his transcription of the talks, if such a thing were possible.

Gamebook Friday: NaNoWriMo progress and WordPlay London

Just a reminder that tomorrow, Saturday 19th November 2016, I shall be taking part in WordPlay London at the British Library.

You can find out more about this event by following this link to last weekend's post about it. The panel I'm going to be on is currently scheduled to take place from 4.15pm-5.00pm, and is called:

Worldbuilding with Words

Creators of interactive fiction, prose-forward games, Twitter microfictions and gamebooks discuss the challenges and joys of using words to evoke historical eras and weird universes.

In other news, you'll see that I've made significant progress with The Wicked Wizard of Oz since last week.

Jonathan Green at WordPlay London 2016

Next Saturday, 19th November 2016, I shall be taking part in WordPlay London at the British Library.

WordPlay is the Hand Eye Society's international festival of writerly games and the British Library is the ideal venue. For one thing, it’s the largest library in the world boasting a collection of over 170,000,000 items. For another thing, one of those items is the manuscript copy of Alice’s Adventures Under Ground (which was later published as Alice's Adventures in Wonderland). And for yet another thing, the Beowulf manuscript (the oldest surviving long poem in Old English) is housed there.

London has been chosen as the location for this year's festival because of the wealth of interactive fiction talent in the UK, including friends of Fighting Fantasy, inkle Studios. The date, Saturday 19th November, has been chosen to coincide with International Games in Libraries Day.

The panel I'm going to be on is currently scheduled to take place from 4.15pm-5.00pm, and is called:

Worldbuilding with Words

Creators of interactive fiction, prose-forward games, Twitter microfictions and gamebooks discuss the challenges and joys of using words to evoke historical eras and weird universes.

Hannah Powell-Smith, Twine creator

Nate Crowley, dystopic Twitter writer

Helen Carmichael, historical game writer

Jon Green, gamebook author

As the focus of the festival is digital games, I think I'm there to represent the retro processed tree carcass contingent.

So, if you're interested to know how I endeavour to evoke different eras and settings using words alone (and a minimal number at that) they why not come along next Saturday?

Maybe I'll see you there.

Merchandise for Writers

On Monday I shall be taking part in a workshop at the British Library, entitled 'Merchandise for Writers'. Here's more information from the British Library website:

If you’re an author and you think that having your own merchandise will have to wait till you’re JK Rowling, then think again. There are good reasons why you should develop your own merchandise and this workshop will help you do just that. 

What this workshop will cover: 

• 5 things merchandise can do for you as an author
• The difference between products and merchandise
• Case studies – from JK Rowling to part-time authors
• The new product development process: 6 steps to avoid mistakes
• Planning ahead – writing merchandise into your books 

We’ll also amuse ourselves with some truly terrible examples of author merchandise, practise finding product ideas by working on some imaginary book titles and look at how to write a business plan for your products (and yourself as a writer). 

You’ll take away lots of ideas for your own merchandise, a list of recommended reading and a business plan template. This workshop is ideal for authors at all stages – from just getting to started to full-timers.  Fiction and non-fiction both welcome! 

This workshop will be presented by Melissa Addey, the 2016 Leverhulme Trust Writer in Residence at the British Library’s Business & IP Centre. Melissa has over 15 years business experience developing new products and mentoring entrepreneurs, as well as being an author of fiction and non-fiction.  With guest speaker Shaun Levin, author of Writing Maps and author Jonathan Green.

Proceedings start at 10.00am and, best of all, the workshop is provided free of charge as part of the British Library Business & IP Centre’s Artist in Residence programme, generously funded by the Leverhulme Trust.

So, if you're free, why not pop along?

JG and the British Library - Take 2

So, if you've been hanging round this corner of the Interweb for a while, you'll know of the issues I've had with the British Library. If not, read this post to bring yourself up to speed.

Well the good news is that my record's been sorted out and my works applied accordingly. I don't think all my books are on there yet, but the situation is much improved since last time I blogged on the topic.

Anyway, you can now peruse the catalogue of (Green, Jonathan, 1971-) here, as will readers who haven't been born yet long after I'm gone. Now how weird is that?

China Miéville speaking at the British Library

JG and the British Library

I've lived in the suburbs of London for fourteen years now and so all the wonders of the capital are effectively there on my doorstep. One of those wonders is the British Library. I've known for a long time that various books of mine are stored within its vaults and, as a result, my name is there on their database.

So, this summer, when I found myself near St Pancras with some time on my hands, I wandered in to check out my listing. This is what I found...

Now I know that having children has aged me, but not by that much! I mean I'm not even 40 yet (well, not quite).

So what's happened here is that the renowned dictionary author Jonathon Green has been credited with all my hard work. And you can rest assured that I'm not going to let this lie... Wish me luck trying to get the problem resolved!