Saturday, September 12, 2009

Technology and Literature

Just finished reading an article in the Saturday September 12/09 Toronto Star about Margaret Atwood and her innovative approach towards her current book tour. Atwood has always challenged ideas with her writing, I admire how she is utilizing web 2.0 tools to promote her latest project.

Her latest title The Year of the Flood builds upon the ideas presented in Oryx & Crake. She has developed a website about the title and is blogging her experiences throughout her tour additionally she is using Twitter [@MargaretAtwood] to tweet out updates. Talk about engaging readers using tools of this century!

Three years ago Atwood was an innovator in the development of the LongPen which allows authors to autograph books in real time from a distance. This was showcased at the OLA Superconference.

I think Atwood's work in this area certainly sets the record straight in regards to Marc Prensky's ideas of Digital Natives and Digital Immigrants. Being of a certain age, as I am, she has embraced today's technologies to suit her purposes and meet the expectations of younger audiences. Yay Margaret!

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