A Call for Entries

This is an ongoing call for entries: a kind of RFP for fiction work that I want to exist in the world.

Over the last few years, Studio Kirkland published a series of seven novels by the late writer Charles Williams. We are now, surprisingly, a Publisher. That project is complete, and so I’m shopping for the next work to publish.

These ideas are playful, but I am serious. If you are a writer who wants to tackle one of these, I would love to help make them happen.

1

Fiction short story as told through an ecommerce website. The story starts on a banner ad, continues into the homepage of an online store where there’s a hint of… something more. The story deepens and develops as you navigate the store, reading product descriptions, details, user reviews. Adding items to your cart reveals more. You could even use purchase confirmations! A multi-threaded experience akin to an RPG or video game; the story is built into the nooks and crannies available in the medium. Completionists will find everything; most readers will get the gist in a short visit.

2

Fictional social drama as told through public comment periods at City Commission meetings. It’s embedded theater, inserted into the quotidian and only slowly revealing itself. A cast of characters makes public comments within their allotted three minute ‘public comment’ window. At first the comments stick largely to the matter discussed in the city commission meeting, but with larger and larger digressions and references to other characters’ comments, and, as the story progresses, previous comments. The work spans several months, attending the biweekly comission meetings. Attentive readers might only discover the outlines of the story after a few sessions. The final work can be archived via the commission livestream recordings on youtube. Requires participants with some improv skill.

(I suggest a cast of characters including a cranky neighbor who is slowly softened up, and at least one couple who fall in love. End it with a proposal!)

3

A short story, recorded into programmable voicebox players for large stuffed animals and placed prominently in a publicly accessible space: toy store display, library children’s section, etc. Broken into sections to accomodate length of voicebox recorder. Each week the recording changes, progressing the story. Could integrate multiple characters based on availability and location opportunities.

4

Rotating poetry collection presented as a series of roadside signs. Get access to a stretch of highway - preferably on a commuter route - and install a series of signs with one line of the poem on each sign:

------------------
|  I have eaten  |
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	------------------
	|   the plums    |
	------------------

		------------------
		|  that were in  |
		------------------

			------------------
			|   the icebox   |
			------------------

And so on. Change the poems out seasonally or as desired. Don’t use William Carlos Williams, that’s just an example. Archived online or gathered into a print book.

5

Fiction short story presented as menus, flyers, and doorhangers from two rival fictional pizza restaurants. Printed IRL and delivered to small radius of residential neighborhood. Archived online or gathered into a print book.

6

Short story presented via an LED electronic message board, located within a business window. Displays the entire short story in order in small segments, and then loops to the beginning. Runs all night, every night. Use different colors to denote different characters or tonal shift in the story.

So

These ideas are playful, but I am serious. If you are a writer who wants to tackle one of these, I would love to help make them happen. Get in touch!