Develop your writing and experiment with nonlinear storytelling at our Interactive Fiction Summer School

Led by multi-award-winner Dr Abigail Parry and a host of specialists in fiction, interactive fiction and games writing, you’ll learn the skills and techniques to work within a dynamic form – one that allows the reader to choose the direction of the narrative.

Writer Jorge Luis Borges conceived an infinite library, in which every possible narrative was housed; this is one way of understanding the potential of interactive fiction, and will act as our starting point for the course. Over five days, we’ll guide you as you build your own immersive libraries for your readers to explore. We’ll embrace collage and homage as well as original storytelling, and provide the technical support needed to explore the possibilities offered by Twine, a simple open-source programme for managing branching texts.

With our expert guidance you’ll tackle dialogue chains, reader choice and multiple endings, as well as the staples of traditional fiction. We’ll bring you together with leading specialists in a range of fields, and our Digital and Emerging Media curators will introduce you to examples of nonlinear and interactive fiction from the British Library’s collections.

Our summer school is convened and led by multi-award-winning poet, Dr Abigail Parry. 

Session contributors include: 

Dr Greg Buchanan, Writer of Paper Drumpf and No Man's Sky
Jerry Jenkins, Curator for Emerging Media, British Library
Rob Sherman, Writer and Games Designer
Richard Skinner, Director of the Fiction Programme at the Faber Academy
Jon Stone, Writer and Games Researcher
Stella Wisdom, Digital Curator, British Library
Olivia Wood, Narrative Editor, Writer and Content Manager at Failbetter Games

Read the course outline

Adult Learning Courses at the British Library

Our courses are aimed at anyone interested in developing their personal interests and passions. Deepen your engagement with a wide range of topics and use our world-renowned collections to inspire your own creativity. We’ll bring you together with Library experts and guest specialists, providing a unique learning experience.  

Multi-session courses offer high-quality, in-depth learning experiences that encourage discussion with both experts and fellow learners. To make sure you get the most from your time with us, we limit class sizes to 16 participants.

So if you want to develop fresh perspectives with leading thinkers or create with contemporary artists, our new programme is the place to start.

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