A PLACE FOR STORIES: PROJECTPEN
ProjectPen, the first ever platform for Arabic and English ‘storytelling’, launched out of Amman this week. Created by a local team of writers, bloggers, developers and designers the project provides a free space for “for undiscovered storytellers, and for stories that would otherwise never be told.”
By posting stories across social media, by creating free EBooks based around author content, and by creating the conditions for creators to support instead of compete against one another, ProjectPen will use freely available technology to give writers a chance, and return the art of storytelling to its roots.
The internet is changing how individuals write and how they read. Disruptive communication technologies have bypassed traditional publishing models. Writers, illustrators and poets can now interact with their audience directly.
A team of voluntary curators are in place to select the best stories, and to work with creators to produce, edit and promote that content wherever possible. Submissions from across Jordan and the region are encouraged. All the stories on the site will be posted under a Creative Commons license. Authors will retain their copyright. Stories can be told in any format, including video, audio and illustration.
ProjectPen is working with Al Bawaba News, TasmeemME and other relevant initiatives to support the storytellers on the site.
Our mandate is simple: to create new kinds of digital stories, for a new kind of readership, based around the work of a new generation of storytellers.
If you think about it, when was the last time someone said to you ‘let me tell you a story’?
http://www.facebook.com/freeyourpen
http://twitter.com/#!/projectpen
