Interactive Writing and Education

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Texture is an interactive fiction creation tool created by Jim Munroe and Juhana Leinonen to explore the possibility space between Inform and Twine. Recently added features like google auth and private libraries facilitate use in the elementary and highschool classrooms. A professional narrative designer, Jim Munroe has done a dozen Texture workshops in three countries as a way to teach adults how to write for interactive. The Texture team is interested in hearing about the opportunities that open sourcing the project may present.

Topic:

Tonight’s talk will focus on the educational use of Texture: https://texturewriter.com/

Texture is an interactive fiction creation tool created by Jim Munroe and Juhana Leinonen to explore the possibility space between Inform and Twine.

Recently added features like google auth and private libraries facilitate use in the elementary and highschool classrooms. A professional narrative designer, Jim Munroe has done a dozen Texture workshops in three countries as a way to teach adults how to write for interactive. The Texture team is interested in hearing about the opportunities that open sourcing the project may present.

More about Texture: Easy to play: The word-on-word interaction mechanic is suitable for touchscreen phones and tablets, as well as web browsers. Easy to create: Our WYSIWYG editor makes composition and design a right-brained, no code affair — right in the browser. Easy to share: Click a button to publish and publicly share your work on social media. Or download an .html file to host it yourself or share via email. When the beta came out in 2014 it was a finalist for Best Technological Development at the XYZZY Awards. Since its release in 2016 hundreds of people have made games with it.

• Bios

Jim Munroe is a “pop culture provocateur” according to the Austin Chronicle. His graphic novels and prose novels have been praised by Pulitzer-winner Junot Diaz and comics legend Neil Gaiman, and his lo-fi sci-fi feature films by Wired and the Guardian. His political videogames have appeared at Sundance and Cannes, and he co-founded the world’s first videogame arts organization. He was an Art Gallery of Ontario Artist-in-Residence in 2014 and he lives in the Junction neighbourhood in Toronto.

Juhana Leinonen is a freelance software developer living and working in southern Finland. He has been involved in the Interactive Fiction community since 2007, making games, tools and authoring systems. His work has won the Xyzzy Award for Best Technological Development twice.

• Social Media Cheat Codes:

Jim Munroe @nomediakings Juhana Leinonen @juhanaif

@CivicTechTO #civictech https://link.civictech.ca/tweet

• Venue Sponsor:

Join us this week from the comfort of your own home, or wherever you are practicing social isolation, for a virtual civic tech hacknight!

• Check-in details:

Join us via Zoom: https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85847811289?pwd=THhwOEQvTlh5R3QvbWxha25xTWdGUT09 Webcams and mics optional, but encouraged!

Check in with us on the Civic Tech Toronto Slack: https://link.civictech.ca/chat

• Accessibility:

We’re exploring ways to make our online hacknights more accessible, but at the moment we only provide video of the presentation slides and audio.

• About Us:

Our weekly civic tech hacknights bring together designers, coders, urban planners, government staff, mappers, policy-makers, students, communications strategists, and all other Torontonians who share an interest in making Toronto more responsive, prosperous, sustainable and equitable, through design, tech, and data. (Coders are welcome, but you don’t have to be a coder to contribute!) Come and be part of it!

• Agenda:

6:45-7:00 = Civic Tech 101 7:00-7:10 = Welcome and Introductions 7:10-7:45 = Presentation and Q&A/discussion 7:45-9:00 = Breakout groups (go make something!) 9:00 + = Civic Tech Hangout

For more info, visit http://civictech.ca Here’s our Code of Conduct: http://civictech.ca/about-us

Hope to see you Tuesday!