Thursday, May 10, 2012

Every writer should read this

Seriously. It’s about archiving stuff – not just backing up your work in progress but how we should think about archiving for the very, very long term as well as for the short. Paper doesn’t last. Floppy disks? Hah. Not even CDs will preserve our work and nor will this year’s devices. The Internet isn’t that great either. The only thing that will do it is carving every word in marble, possibly.

This article is by novelist Julia Jones, partner of Francis Wheen who recently lost his library, mementoes and the manuscript of the novel he has been writing. So she knows whereof she speaks. Chilling.

1 comment:

Dr. Michael O'Leary said...

I couldn't agree more! I am one of the co-directors and founder member of the Poetry Archive of New Zealand Aotearoa (PANZA)- it is our aim to preserve and educate people on the history and significance of the tradition of poetry in our country, much of which has been neglected or missed by our academics. For further information visit our website http://poetryarchivenz.wordpress.com Dr. Michael O'Leary, Paekakariki