[Commlist] CFP: 2026 New Media Writing Prize Unconference

Call for Proposals: 2026 New Media Writing Prize Unconference
Deadline: 28 February 2026
Call: https://newmediawritingprize.co.uk/unconference/ 
<https://newmediawritingprize.co.uk/unconference/>

12-13 May 2026 — 100% Virtual (Zoom)

You are cordially invited to contribute to our fourth annual New Media 
Writing Prize Unconference. This two-day creative and critical 
participant-directed Unconference is hosted by Bournemouth University 
<http://bournemouth.ac.uk/> (UK) in partnership with the Electronic 
Literature Organization <https://eliterature.org/> and the British 
Library <https://www.bl.uk/>. The Unconference will culminate in the 
awards evening for the New Media Writing Prize on 13 May 2026 (register 
here: 
https://bournemouth-ac-uk.zoom.us/meeting/register/4OgsKI_LTjaCtCBH6EBsoQ 
<https://bournemouth-ac-uk.zoom.us/meeting/register/4OgsKI_LTjaCtCBH6EBsoQ>).

Please see https://newmediawritingprize.co.uk/unconference/ 
<https://newmediawritingprize.co.uk/unconference/> for the full call for 
proposals and a link to submit your proposal.

Deadline: 28 February 2026

Unconference Theme: Fight the Future
------------------------------------
This year’s theme frames interactive digital narrative as a site of 
resistance, rehearsal, and collective world-building in a time when “the 
future” is increasingly pre-scripted by corporate algorithms, 
patriarchal norms, political fascism, and extractive responses to 
climate crisis. By fighting the future, we do not mean rejecting 
futurity itself, but refusing inevitability: resisting default, 
dystopian trajectories and instead playfully, critically, and 
collectively co-creating alternative futures grounded in care, justice, 
and solidarity. We invite playful, participatory, and experimental work 
and activities that use interaction, liveness, and co-creation to 
imagine and rehearse worlds otherwise — from small-scale narrative 
interventions to speculative systems and performative digital practices.

While AI is an unavoidable condition of contemporary digital culture, 
this Unconference is not an AI conference; rather, we welcome work that 
engages AI as material, constraint, collaborator, antagonist, or object 
of critique alongside broader explorations of interactive storytelling, 
social change, and collective imagination.

We encourage submissions that align with the collaborative, hands-on 
spirit of the Unconference. We are particularly interested in proposals 
for activities that emphasize participation, creativity, and discussion.

Examples of activities include:
* Live Co-Creation : Collaborative storytelling, netprovs, or group 
design challenges.
* Hack-a-Thon / Write-a-Thon : Thematic challenges that result in 
co-created outputs.
* Peer-Led Clinics : Hands-on sessions using accessible tools like 
Twine, GitHub, or creative software.
* Creative Networking Sessions : Innovative ways to connect participants 
(e.g., collaboration speed-dating).
* Dialogues in Digital Practice : Lightning talks based in a panel’s 
research or practice followed by facilitated discussion and creative 
responses.
* Thematic Breakouts : Discussions or activities exploring subthemes 
like accessibility or sustainability.
* Quickfire Interludes : Quick creative exercises (e.g., collaborative 
poems, brainstorming). Researchers could also use these for data 
collection — try things out on us!
* …and anything else you can think of!
Please note we’ll be limiting single-presenter presentations to 7 
minutes or less. This includes artists’ talks.

Proposal submission deadline: 28 February 2026, Midnight UTC. Please see 
https://newmediawritingprize.co.uk/unconference/ 
<https://newmediawritingprize.co.uk/unconference/> for the full call for 
proposals and a link to submit your proposal.

*Submit to the ELC5 and the ELO Awards!**
*
The call is out for the fifth volume of the Electronic Literature 
Collection! Submit your electronic literature (in one of many languages) 
by 31 Jan 2026 to be considered for inclusion in the ELO's 
"field-defining" collection. Submission link: 
https://eliterature.github.io/elc5-info 
<https://eliterature.github.io/elc5-info>

And as long as you're submitting for ELC5, make sure you prep your work 
for the 2026 ELO Awards <https://eliterature.org/elo-awards>. 
Submissions will open shortly!


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