Meanland: Literature, Genre and the Digital Age

In the online world, science fiction and fantasy, thrillers and romance rule supreme. Much-maligned genre fiction is seemingly better placed to survive in the new world order than prestigious literary offerings. Why is it that writing as ‘art’ is struggling to make the transition. What does this mean for writers working in the field? Will the digital see the death of the literary? Will all writers eventually turn to genre for survival?
Featuring

Jacinda Woodhead is Overland’s deputy editor. She is also a PhD candidate working on a narrative non-fiction project about the politics of abortion. Her essay ‘Sexiness and Sexism: Neoliberalism and Feminism’ was recently published in Left Turn: Political Essays for the New Left. ... Read more

Lili Wilkinson is the award-winning author of eighteen books for young people, including The Erasure Initiative and After the Lights Go Out. Lili has a PhD from the University of Melbourne, and is a passionate advocate for YA and the young people who read it, establishing the Inky Awards at the Cen... Read more

Louise Swinn is a journalist, editor, critic and writer, co-founder of Sleepers independent publishers, the Small Press Network, and the Stella Prize. Louise edited Choice Words (Allen & Unwin, 2019), a collection of pieces demystifying abortion, and currently works as a journalist with the Aust... Read more

Myke Bartlett is a freelance journalist, emerging novelist and veteran podcaster. Each week, Myke earns a crust reviewing cultural things for Melbourne glossy The Weekly Review. Over the last few years his podcasted fiction has been downloaded more than half a million times. In 2011, he won the Text... Read more
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