Literary Festival 2013: New Media and the Future of Literacy [Audio]

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Speaker(s): Miranda Glover, Charles Leadbeater, Sam Riviere | Some people have been struck by the aphoristic potential of Twitter. Others see developments in new media as bringing the era of the literature to an end. This panel will explore the way new media impacts on traditional literary and philosophical forms of writing and reading. One question is about the *threat* of new media to classical literacy: fragmentation and overload in new media leading to the withering away of traditional literary, philosophical and poetic forms. Another question is about the *chance* that new media offers for new forms of cultural literacy: where everyone can become a reader and a writer. Miranda Glover is group account director for FMI Group, she specialises in brand positioning, strategic digital comms, film and social media marketing, heading up accounts including LG Mobile, Global and EHQ. She’s previously worked for international agencies with Motorola, Sony PlayStation, Lastminute.com, Unilever and others. She has published three novels with Random House, Meanwhile Street (2009) Soulmates (2007) and Masterpiece (2005), which was shortlisted for the Pendleton May first novel award and translated into seven languages. Charles Leadbeater is a leading authority on innovation and creativity, and author of We:think: the power of mass creativity, which charts the rise of mass, participative approaches to innovation from science and open source software, to computer games and political campaigning. Sam Riviere's poems have appeared in various publications and competitions since 2005. He co-edits the anthology series Stop Sharpening Your Knives and his debut collection 81 Austerities is published by Faber & Faber. He is currently working towards a PhD at the University of East Anglia. He was a recipient of a 2009 Eric Gregory Award. Simon Glendinning is director of the Forum for European Philosophy. This event forms part of LSE's 5th Space for Thought Literary Festival|, taking place from Tuesday 26 February - Saturday 2 March 2013, with the theme 'Branching Out'.