In Verbal, Darran Anderson considers the paper versus pixels debate:
It’s only in recent years that Internet publishing has become accessible and available enough to make a substantial impact. With free facilities such as Blogger and MySpace, the means of expression are now available to those who couldn’t afford, or didn’t have the expertise, to host a website.
With means of promotion and interaction offering an international dimension to online publishing, like-minded literary groups have coalesced and seized the initiative. Inspired by the outsider cool of Bukowski and Brautigan, many have seen it as a continuation of the underground fanzines of the 60s and the punk DIY ethic. Daring, irreverant and passionate, this new wave of writing has come under a variety of guises.
At one end of the spectrum is McSweeney’s Internet Tendency, a publishing dynamo captained by the young literary sensation Dave Eggers (A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius). Primarily known for it’s surreal, absurdist style, there’s no doubting it’s ingenuity and good humour (typical titles include “The Sadomasochistic Fisherman Visits Pyramid Lake”, “Mondays With Kafka” and “A Robot Performs Standup Comedy to a Lacklustre Response”).
For those finding McSweeney’s too fey or self-consciously wacky, there’s the edgy, eclectic writing of the Offbeat Generation. The loose collective term originates from Andrew Gallix, editor of 3:AM Magazine, a highly regarded cult website that has been lauded by the likes of Dazed & Confused and The Guardian [‘Surfing the new literary wave’]. Along with the likes of Scarecrow, Social Disease, The Beat and Susan Tomaselli’s Dogmatika, 3:AM have championed the new wave of writing and given a platform to young writers for whom Booker Prize lists are an irrelevance and who’ve been neglected by more established publishing outlets.
Some of the most exciting affliates have come in the form of The Brutalists, a provocatively honest trio of writers comprised of Adelle Stripe, Ben Myers and Tony O’Neill. Adapting a manifesto from punk fanzine Sniffin’ Glue (“Here’s a chord. Here’s another. Now form a band.”) to their own writing equivalent (“w”), they’ve distributed copies of their first gritty collection Brutalist 1: Nowhere Fast, via the internet alongside editing their Straight from the Fridge site.
Speaking to Adelle, it’s clear how important the Internet is for the group, ‘Well firstly, it helped us hook up with each other – we read each other’s writing and found out we had a lot in common. Secondly, it has opened up our writing to a whole new readership internationally. Thirdly we can publish whatever we want, no holds barred, and also it doesn’t have to cost a penny.’
Given that writers can publish and engage with readers without the corporate involvement, there’s a theory that Internet publishing is a democratising process. Stripe wholeheartedly agrees, ‘Definitely. We are living in a new, unprecedented era as far as publishing goes. As the middle men have now been cut out, there is a closer relationship between writer and reader.’
