We are thrilled to announce the appointment of our new Digital Writers’ Festival (DWF) Director, Jane Howard!

Jane’s experimental criticism projects, using digital and artistic tools to explore how we can organically respond to the art forms they engage with, have been commissioned by The Lifted Brow and the Performance & Art Development Agency. She has collaborated on projects with Brown Council, Terrapin Puppet Theatre, and Vitalstatistix, and has worked for many arts organisations in Adelaide, including Access2Arts, the Adelaide Festival of Ideas, and the Adelaide Film Festival. Phew, is she impressive!

Jane says of her role, “As a young writer, travelling to Melbourne for the Emerging Writers’ Festival was so important for me in being excited and inspired by all of the wonderful writers that attended, and for me finding my writing community. Then attending the Digital Writers’ Festival was so important for taking away the physical barriers and allowing these connections and inspirations to happen from my own home. I cannot wait to start work on this year’s festival and be a part of creating those experiences for writers across Australia – and hopefully the world.”

In 2015, over 8000 viewers participated in DWF events, cumulatively watching more than 1000 hours of DWF video content. More than 20% of DWF’s audience was based in regional Australia, and more than 25% was based internationally. We can’t wait to see what Jane has in store for the 2016 iteration!

The 2016 Digital Writers’ Festival will be taking place in November, and we look forward to keeping you updated with DWF news as the festival begins to unfold!