[early web hypertext fiction]
I want to write a paragraph about electronic literature in the early days of the web. Michael Shumate’s Hyperizons is a good place to start, given it hasn’t been updated since July 97, but even so it lists over 60 hypertext fictions. What was there before 1995? Do you remember?
I suspect I can write the paper perfectly well without these details but of course now I want to know.
And damn it, I was there, surfing the web in 1993 and 1994, wandering through the Virtual Library’s literature/hypertext section. I should remember. But I don’t, and the Electronic Literature Directory won’t let me search by year.
Further finds:
- Michael Shumate’s short article about new developments in web hyperfiction in 1996
- Prentiss Riddle’s Search for Some Hypertext Fiction, 1995
- Carolyn Guyer’s list of hypertext fiction, with an accompanying article in Feed Magazine. 1995.
March 23rd, 2005 at 10:31
hi Jill..Have you tried The Wayback Machine at The Internet Archive
(http://www.archive.org/web/web.php)…30 billion ancient web pages
to access!
March 23rd, 2005 at 15:31
Yes, but it only goes back to 1996 in some cases and 1997 in others. Actually Guyers and Riddle’s things in my post are from the Wayback Machine - they’re long gone from the living web.
I wish I could SEARCH the Wayback Machine as though on a particular date. That would perhaps be a gargantuan thing to set up.
March 23rd, 2005 at 17:16
Hi jill
You may want to try the trAced section of the trAce website
http://trace.ntu.ac.uk/traced/
I wrote some of this way back in 1995 when it was published as a small booklet. I think the booklet is going to be put online soon to commemorate trAce’s 10 year anniversary. Most of the links probably don’t work now but it is a snapshot of literature resources available on the web at that time.
best
Simon
March 23rd, 2005 at 17:19
Strangely enough I’d just posted the above when an email arrived in my inbox informing me that the scanned booklet has just been put online at
http://www.writersforthefuture.com/1995
synchronicity!
March 24th, 2005 at 17:33
Simon, this is perfect! Thank you!!
April 15th, 2008 at 20:27
Well, that’s a blast from the past!
So funny to recall the day when it seemed reasonable to assemble bulleted lists of items in a category in the hope of finding most of them.