Writers came together in the Iowa City Public Library on Friday, Sept. 13, for a panel hosted by the International Writers Program. The panel featured four international writers: Chris Tse from New Zealand, Smith Likongwe from Malawi, Karoline Kamel from Egypt, and Phodiso Modirwa from Botswana. The focus of the panel was storytelling in the digital age.
Tse opened the discussion, talking about growing up with the internet in the 1990s and how the internet and social media have always been focused on self-image.
“In the intervening decades, social media platforms have come and gone, all with their own take on how we connect with others, but one thing has remained the same: we are all compelled to curate a version of ourselves,” Tse said.
Following Tse was Likongwe, who spoke on the contrasts between traditional and digital storytelling and how credibility and outreach can be impacted by the new way media is consumed.
“Digital storytelling is able to respond to some of the desires of some audiences. It is easy to integrate various formats,”Likongwe said. “I should hasten to say, however, that the ease with digital storytelling also makes it easy to fabricate false stories and present them as real.”
Kamel was next, speaking on the passive nature modern entertainment has taken and how the true intent of storytelling will always be rooted in authenticity.
“We do not tell stories to get likes and shares, but we write because we have a story, and we are honest in telling it, and we feel happy while writing it,” Kamel said.
The concluding speaker on the panel was Modirwa. Modirwa talked about the issue of being forced to conform to a language to fit into a society.
“To make my journey, I had to uproot a little forest out of my mouth to make way for the smooth faux lawn of the queen’s song,” Modirwa said.
Following the speakers’ readings, the floor was opened to the audience to ask the panel questions about their opinions on the current and future state of digital storytelling, as well as stating their own perspectives.
The Iowa City Public Library will host future International Writers Program panels on Fridays in the coming weeks. The next panel will be held on Friday, Sept. 20, focused on ‘Writing with the weight of the world.’
