HASTAC has some wonderful opportunities for contributions to scholarship on electronic literature, tied to a major project, the Electronic Literature Directory (ELD).

The Electronic Literature Directory is a collection of literary works, descriptions, and keywords. Both a repository of works and a critical companion to e-literature, the ELD hosts discussions that are capable of being referenced and revised over years of use, and the ELD feed directly into Electronic Literature Organization (ELO)‘s larger CELL project.

The ELD is looking for 3 Associate Editors and for entries:

Associate Editor positions:
The title of Associate Editor for the ELD will be given to selected members of our affiliated (CELL) database who agree to identify research areas of common interest between the ELD and other databases. The drafting and assignment of entries on specific works of born digital literature that are identified as incomplete, merely descriptive, or missing in one database, might be undertaken by the Associate Editor or assigned to others whose research interests are suitable. The creation, or assignment of one entry a month for presentation in the ELD is expected of each Associate.

Guidelines for ELD entries:

• Entries must be about “electronic literature.” Electronic Literature refers to works with important literary aspects that take advantage of the capabilities and contexts provided by the stand-alone or networked computer. Within the broad category of electronic literature are several forms and threads of practice, some of which are:
• Hypertext fiction and poetry, on and off the Web
• Kinetic poetry presented in Flash and using other platforms
• Computer art installations which ask viewers to read them or otherwise have literary aspects
• Conversational characters, also known as chatterbots
• Interactive fiction
• Novels that take the form of emails, SMS messages, or blogs
• Poems and stories that are generated by computers, either interactively or based on parameters given at the beginning
• Collaborative writing projects that allow readers to contribute to the text of a work
• Literary performances online that develop new ways of writing
• Entries should not be written by the authors of the works that they describe.
• Entries should be well-developed, well-written, descriptive, and accurate.
• Entries should be written in English.

Contributing to the ELD will help:

• expand the field of electronic literature
• other scholars and curators putting together classes and exhibits
• yourself by making your scholarship available in an open-access peer-reviewed platform opportunity

Please contact Joseph Tabbi regarding these opportunities.