Hamlet has a new question: To tweet or not to tweet?
Twitter literature is taking over the social media site as authors across the globe contribute to the first Twitter Fiction Festival, which started Wednesday.
The virtual festival, which ends Sunday, features about 30 authors from five continents and stories in five languages, according to Twitter’s blog post for the event.
Selections for the event range from tweets of Shakespeare lines to a retelling of 100 Greek myths in 100 tweets. It also features original stories such as a love affair between a teenage girl and a Sasquatch.
R. Brandon Kershner, a UF English professor, said the event sounds “silly.” He said the 140-character limit doesn’t leave space for proper idea development.
“It seems like a particularly awkward way of writing fiction,” he said.
Dave Carlson, executive director of UF’s Center for Media Innovation and Research, said the challenges offered by Twitter’s character limit could actually improve writing by encouraging concision.
“Anything that encourages people to write helps writing, or at least can help writing,” he said.
Twitter encouraged all users to get involved and create their own stories using #twitterfiction. The @twitterbooks account will highlight a select number of stories throughout the festival.
