For nearly two years, I’ve been talking about all the great resources for writers in the virtual world of Second Life. Here’s your chance to see for yourself – in one easy trip to the annual Autumn Writers Exposition.
For the third year in a row, the folks at the awesome Written Word organization in SL have invited writers and the groups and places that support them to exhibit at this month-long extravaganza that celebrates the writing community in SL.
Bird's eye view of part of AWE 2009
Nearly 100 exhibits at AWE 2009 will tell you about most of the great writing-related programs held throughout Second Life all year long, as well as many of the writers at work in-world.
I wrote a detailed post last year about the fun, networking, and “magic” available at AWE, and most of it applies to this year’s event as well – including the sky-scraping towers that offer a great overview of the scene and access to the magic carpet that takes you on a ride over the entire exposition.
Like last year, AWE is sponsoring writing contests with cash prizes for best poem/lyric and best short fiction/creative nonfiction. But new this year is the addition of a third competition – best review of a real-life live event – which is sponsored by the London School of Journalism (which maintains a campus in Second Life). Each of these three writing contests will award L$5,000 (roughly US$15) to the first-place winners. (Deadline for submissions to all three contests is Oct. 31.)
Also new this year is an exhibit for Story Mountain Center for Writers (the Second Life writers retreat co-founded by yours truly). You can learn all about Story Mountain and get a free book of short prose and poetry at our booth.
Visiting the Story Mountain Center for Writers booth at the 2009 AWE in Second Life
To get to the amazing AWE 2009, after logging in to Second Life, use the SLURL for AWE to teleport to its landing point (click here for the SLURL).
Then stroll down the lanes through the exhibits, where you’ll find stories and poems you can get for free or a small price, as well as “freebie” like T-shirts and SL computers. Discover the cafes that encourage writers to hang out there, learn about classes, programs and tools for writers, meet writers and publishers.
Not every writer, publisher, agent, or writing-related resource in Second Life is represented at AWE 2009, but the festival includes a great sampling that’ll give you a terrific overview of the writing community in SL.
If you can’t get to the exhibit itself, you can view its page of continuously updated photos on this Flickr site.
When you go to AWE, if you see something you want to make sure others know about, write about it in a comment to this post!
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