North London Story Festival
Middlesex University Media Department’s legendary, iconic and unique North London Story Festival!
Running annually since 1996, The North London Story Festival is a student-led event that aims to celebrate all forms of storytelling by hosting a range of guest speakers and holding practical workshops at the Hendon campus of Middlesex University. Formerly the North London Literary Festival, previous speakers include Dame Professor Carol Ann Duffy, David Nicholls, Al Kennedy, Lynton Kwesi Johnson, Andrew Motion, and Fay Weldon.
The Festival’s theme/provocation this year is the ‘Future of Storytelling,’ through various events, both online and on campus. Storytelling is being redefined for an always-on world. Mobile technology is already transforming how audiences consume media, from retail shopping to VR and sporting events. Storytelling in the future will perhaps be no different.
Technology is changing the way we consume/devour storytelling, due to the frenetic rise of social media, where short, quick, bitesize chunks are now the norm. Do audiences want long, lengthy reads, or do they want punchy, fast-paced info/narratives? Are we losing the capacity to concentrate/sit still? American poet/musician/prototype rapper Gill Scott-Heron warned in the 70s the revolution would not be televised. How would a revolution work today? Would it still be Tik-Tokked, with a 15-second-long clip?
This century is an always-on world, the most it has ever been, with greater emphasis on online technology, particularly through social networking.
Helen Bendon, Head of Media Department
The rise of trans/multi platform media has never been so popular. The genre of gaming ARGs (alternate reality games) skyrocketed during the first lockdown, offering viewers the perfect escape from the world within a short, suspenseful video format. But is it healthy to spend so much time indoors and not in the ‘real world’?
This century is an always-on world, the most it has ever been, with greater emphasis on online technology, particularly social networking. It has never been easier to organize anything with anyone with only a click or tap of the finger. Is the new Golden Age of Technology going to disrupt the creative industries, or are technologies going to seize opportunities to play and experiment with their own new and bold versions of storytelling?
This century is an always-on world, the most it has ever been, with greater emphasis on online technology, particularly social networking. It has never been easier to organize anything with anyone with only a click or tap of the finger. Is the new Golden Age of Technology going to disrupt the creative industries, or are technologies going to seize opportunities to play and experiment with their own new and bold versions of storytelling?
However, is it going to be an endless rabbit hole of tyrannical algorithms and unlimited homogenized shows to watch?
StoryFest is huge part of our identity in the faculty of Arts and Creative Industries, bringing together different disciplines in what is essential to all of our practice - strong, engaging storytelling.
Helen Bendon, Head of Media Department
StoryFest 2023 is bursting with speakers, workshops, online to expand our audiences, as well as live events on the Hendon campus. We have visual storytelling in the form of graphic novelists, VR, blockchain-based storytelling, and the metaverse as a story space. With careful consideration of the past and present, this year we are exploring what the future holds for storytelling.
Attending StoryFest is always thought-provoking and creatively stimulating, but most impressive is seeing our students work with professional writers and creatives. I am really looking forward to it and whether this is your first visit or if you’ve been a regular since we began in 1996, I am sure that our rich and varied program means there is something for everyone at StoryFest 2023.
Dr. Helen Bendon, Head of the Media Department