Monthly Archives: September 2025

student blogs

Stepping into my Final Year

Fall always feels like a season of new beginnings, a chance to reset, refocus, and dive into what matters most. After a busy summer, I’m grateful to step into this semester with renewed energy and purpose. Each term brings its own challenges and opportunities, but this one feels especially meaningful as I enter my final year of graduate school. I’m ready to lean in fully—to learn, to create, and to grow alongside all of you.

This past summer, I had the chance to participate in the summer retreat, and it was an incredible experience. Those two weeks were filled with connection, reflection, and writing. The retreat gave me space to slow down, be intentional with my words, and share ideas with others who are just as passionate about writing and storytelling. I spent dedicated time working on my thesis, focusing on developing key chapters, refining my voice, and exploring new ways to bring my story to life. It was invaluable to have that uninterrupted time to make real progress, and it reminded me why I chose this path, inspiring me to carry that motivation into the fall semester.

Prior to registering for this course, I had no idea what electronic literature was, but I’m excited to explore how incorporating digital or interactive literature could add a new dimension to my work.

This semester, I look forward to pushing myself creatively, connecting with my peers, and discovering new ways to grow as a writer. I hope to make the most of every opportunity to learn, share, and be inspired.

I’m so excited to see how this semester unfolds and what I’ll learn along the way.

student blogs

Introduction

Hello All,

I am excited to be in this course with everyone. This is right up my creative alley with wanting to apply my short fiction stories to various electronic literature technologies and see how they can evolve into new ways of reaching my audience and changing not only my experience and interaction with characters, plot, storytelling but theirs as well. I feel this course will offer a new portal of electronic innovations, variety, exploration applying various electronic lit storytelling technology towards my writing style and seeing where it takes me giving the reader a whole new unexpected experience as they read my stories.  Experimenting with various immersive, interactive storytelling digital platforms such as hypertext and interactive fiction, generative and maybe ergodic literature if it is included.

My personal and academic goals related to taking this course resonate and reflect with being curious and also looking for new endeavors and technology that can assist with my storytelling. As well as being around fellow classmates who are also going to be sharing and using the same technologies with their own vision and purpose attached. This will be helpful with seeing new perspectives and uses of electronic literature and also any effective past uses from those examples we learn about in this course who have been successful at applying these electronic lit technologies in various creative ways that elevated their own writing to create a new niche or voice.

student blogs

1st Blog!

Hi Everyone!

For those who don’t know me, I am Tyler Clark. I got my undergrad degree from Kean in English Writing and I am in my last semester of my Masters! I enjoy writing and reading poetry. I like playing video games, building gundam model kits, and spending time in nature.

I was thinking about the concept of electronic literature and it’s connection to video games.

In the early days of video games when technology was limited there were video games called text based adventures. These games would show you a screen of text which tells you what is going on. Something like how you were exploring an abandoned house with your friends and have now become trapped in the house alone.

The way you play the game is by typing things into a textbook. For example, the game text might say you are in a room and it is dark. So you might type in, “turn on the light”. The game would then say something like “You turn on the light and can see x,y, and z.” Then you would type something like “pick up object x”. And so on and so forth. So basically the game is entirely text based and your text input moves the story along. While being extremely basic, these text based adventures are some early examples of what I believe electronic literature is.

Another style of electronic literature through video games are visual novels. These visual novels are just what they sound like, text based novels with visuals and sounds on the screen. You don’t really play these games so much as you interact with them. You read the text on the screen and press a button to advance it. There are opportunities in the story to make decisions which alter the story. While the text is displayed on the screen, you will see visuals of the characters and locations within the story as well as sounds related to what is happening.

These types of games were never my cup of tea as there wasn’t much “gameplay”, but visual novels are an interesting way to read a novel while getting the same dopamine rush video games offer. These types of games are such an interesting evolution from the text based adventure games that I mentioned earlier.

As I reflect on the connection between video games and electronic literature, I start to realize how much literacy is required to play certain games as some can be very text heavy, especially with earlier video games before voice acting was a regular feature in games. Video games as electronic literature might seem like a stretch at first, but I feel they share a deep connection that is worth exploring.

student blogs

Blog #1

Hello everyone. My name is Hunter Marshall. I hate writing about myself so lets make this short and sweet. I love reading, art, writing, sport, etc. I am currently a tutor at the NTLC. I have had a love of writing since high school which has only grown in my time since. I feel that this program will provide we with the skills to pursue a career in something I am passionate about. Its great to meet you all.

In terms of literature, one thing that has always interested me is the author’s process of story telling. All stories have a main theme that details the importance of a narrative, but the composition is how the reader is guided to that destination. Recently I have been getting into comics and graphic novels, and I have been enamored with how writers and artist bridge their respective modes of expression to create a narrative for the reader to uncover. Whether its through the art, paneling, dialogue (or lack there of), all of this comes together in ways traditional literature just cannot. In taking this class I am interest in how authors of works of Electronic Literature tell their respective stories. Since I have no real connection with E Lit, I am super curious to see how storytelling finds its way in this medium. I feel that literature is a spectrum of many different mediums and ideas. I am excited to see where it lands.

Again super excited to work with all of you this semester. Since I love art I am going to just add a piece that I love.

L’Atelier Rouge (Red Studio) , 1911 by Henri Matisse

student blogs

Introductory Post

Hello, everyone!

I understand that despite knowing many of the faces in this class, I do not know all. Therefore, I will write out the quick spiel for those of the latter. First and foremost, and how many people know me in the program to be, I am a poet. Not so much in the eat, drink, breathe sense, but something akin to that. Though, I love learning and I am always aspiring to transform my writing and thinking beyond who I am as a poet and what I tend to explore when writing such pieces.

Thus, I am very excited to be in this class. I know nothing about Electronic Literature, and that acceptance is what excites me. As a lifelong learner who constantly has to remind myself that I cannot, and will not, know everything, getting the chance to discover something I have no experience with is intriguing in this phase of my career at Kean. As Dr. Zamora has advised me this week, knowing everything is synonymous to that of a close, an end, or even a death. So, this class is livening me.

At this point, I am not sure of what I am expecting outside of the thought that the literature I will be engaging with will be different and unlike anything I have yet to see. I suppose the only aspect I am expecting is that I will be engaging with words in some way. These words, whether we are able to read them in the “normal” sense (as in left to right, paragraph or stanza) or not, declare the idea that we are able to put forth a narrative of some kind to connect with another person. That is what literary means, I believe. I also know that I will be on my computer a lot. That is, of course, a given.

As far as my relationship to storytelling and technology, I think it is more robust than I first initially thought. Looking at my poetry, I tend to create poems that take up space, whether it be lengthy indentations or even words taking the shape of an object. Yes, I could draw this out on paper, but these kinds of poems, for me, always occur on the computer… even if I have all of the words down on paper, they are most likely written in stanza format. The computer is the destination in which the magic occurs. It is also the place in which most people engage with my poetry. This makes me ponder the idea of electronic literature that is not necessarily made for the computer, but usually viewed on the computer. Does this make it, at its core, ELIT? I guess that is to soon be discussed and discovered.

I am looking forward to this semester and excited for what I will soon learn about and create. Looking through the volumes, I have interacted with many fascinating projects, one of which I am hoping to present on this semester and share with my classmates. It is a great opportunity to try my hand at something brand new.

student blogs

Hello E-Lit Crew!

My name is Nastassja Anderson but everyone calls me Nas. A little about me: I was Jersey-born, but island-raised, my roots are planted in both Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica. I’ve always carried a love of nature and the ocean with me. I find peace at the beach and in quiet outdoor spaces, but I’m also a creative through and through. Whether it’s writing, building Legos to unwind, or co-creating projects like my podcast Pencil to Podcast, which explores pedagogy and the student-teacher experience.

When it comes to technology, I’d call myself “chronically online,” always keeping up with trends, current topics, and digital conversations. For me, it’s more than just scrolling; it’s about staying connected and relatable to my students. While I’ve never been the biggest video gamer, I’ve always been fascinated by how things work. As a kid, one of my favorite shows was How It’s Made, and that curiosity has stayed with me as a life-long learner.

I’m especially excited about this class because I love interactive media, and electronic literature falls right under that umbrella. I see it as a powerful way to make literature more engaging and appealing to a generation that loves everything digitized. I’m here to learn, explore, and (hopefully) bring some of those lessons into my own classrooms.I’m excited to learn from all of you, diving into the world of electronic literature, and to share this creative journey together.

student blogs

Introducing Me

Hi everyone! As many of you know my name is Emily Preziose. I just turned 26 in July and am in my last semester of the graduate program for English Writing Studies. I am so excited to embark on the journey of electronic literature with this class! I have two dogs (see photos below) who I truly love with everything in me. I obviously enjoy writing and reading but outside of work and school you can find me outside enjoying nature (camping, fishing, hiking, etc..), cooking/baking and/or playing cozy Switch games. I didn’t have a clear idea of what exactly electronic literature was before starting this class and I still kind of don’t but nonetheless I’m excited to dive into the subject. I went through a few of the pieces in the collections on the course website and I had a lot of fun exploring the different forms and projects that are up there.

student blogs

introducing myself for the last time!

As you can tell from the title, this is my last semester of grad school! Perhaps I can say school in general because I am free. No more awkward introductions and having my anxiety sky rocket into the depths of the milky way. I am this Writing Studies program to further study more pieces of writing but most importantly be exposed to all of you. I deeply value human connection and the art of storytelling no matter in what form it may be. I, myself am an unpublished bed time poet. Meaning, I write heaps of poetry in the dark, on my laptop right before bed. Thats when my mind finally stops circling and I can finally put words to how I am feeling. My goal from this program is to find a job where I can be as creative as possible or to even teach. I have always imagined myself teaching a gothic literature course, which brings to my next point! Ever since I started this program, I don’t think I have participated in any literature works. Meaning, everything has been very “writing based”, I mean hence the program name ha ha. Having the ability to partake in this new form of literature excites me in many ways, most being that I haven’t held a piece of literature in months! I am curious to see how electronic literature handles my favorite genre of the gothic era. I did browse the website full of electronic literature that we were given, and boy was I having fun 🙂

student blogs

Welcome to My World

My name is Maya, and as you can probably tell, I’m having a good time making this website. The focus of this blog will be experimentation and implementing ideas I’m not quite comfortable with yet. That being said, I’m not taking myself too seriously here.

In previous semesters I’ve agonized over things a little more than I intend to this semester. I’ve complained about caring how people perceive me via my blog. These are reservations I’m letting go of, as I’ve come to realize nobody cares about what I’m doing or saying. In fact, I have strong doubts anyone will read this post at all.

Despite that, this is supposed to be an introduction to me, and I haven’t given you a very good impression. Here are some “fun” facts to cleanse your palette.

Fun Facts:
1. I like video games if you can’t tell from my blog theme. I like Minecraft a lot. Animal Crossing, Wizard 101, and Pokémon are some of my other favorites.

2. Huge journaler, I plan everything in advanced, down to my outfits.

3. I love to travel. I’ve been to a lot of places, and even lived in China during high school.

If you’re interested in hearing more about me, I suggest you find something more interesting to focus on.

If you want to follow the breadcrumb trail of my thesis, check out my blog https://poemsbypapaya.wordpress.com/.

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Getting Started

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Welcome again!

I was so happy to meet everyone last night. I am glad we took the first evening to acclimate to the idea of this class together. Here are the slides that I used to guide us through the evening:

A review of some of the things we have accomplished so far

We have connected a little bit:

We looked at both the course website and syllabus together.

I showed you all where to find our primary readings: the Electronic Literature Collections.

Next Monday, we will do some more connecting and getting to know each other, and I will start our semester-long discussion of electronic literature by sharing an overview of some of the most recognizable genres of electronic literature.  This understanding of the general  elit “categories” will serve as a foundational vocabulary for our overall exploration of electronic literature throughout the semester.

We will look again at our Course Calendar together, and we will plan our presentation schedule a bit. And we will discuss the electronic literature review assignment that each of you will share as a presentation in class during the semester.

Your to-do list for next Monday when we meet again:

  1. Please create a free WordPress blog.  Each week, you will be writing a reflective blog post that captures your writing and learning process for the week.  Please send me the URL (web address) for your WordPress blog by filling this form out by Sunday, Sept 14.  I will feed your individual blog sites into our course website, so you will all be able to access and read everyone’s weekly blog posts on the course website under the tab “Student Blogs”.
  2. Please write and publish your first “warm up” blog. It can be a brief description of who you are (i.e. what you have studied, your interests, what has brought you to this class, etc).  You can share whatever you would like us to know about yourself. You can also include your early thought(s) regarding literature, storytelling & technology. 

Looking forward to seeing you all next week,

Dr. Zamora