Kilka dni temu ukazała się antologia mikroprozy publikowanej w serwisie mikroblogowym Twitter – #VSS Anthology Volume 1. Składa się na nią ponad 150 utworów napisanych przez 37 autorów z całego świata. Inicjatorem i wydawcą książki jest Brent Millis, tworzący pod pseudonimem Made in DNA.

Literatura tworzona na Twitterze jest jednym z najciekawszych przejawów literatury cyfrowej. Paradoksalnie, ograniczenie jakim jest 140 znaków, nie doprowadziło do zaniku ale wybuchu energii twórczej. Wpisy literackie na Twitterze można odnajdywać posługując się znacznikami (tagami) takimi jak #sixwords, #6wordstory, #haiku czy #twitfic.

Olbrzymią popularnością cieszy się tag #vss (very short story). Został on po raz pierwszy użyty przez jednego z najbardziej cenionych autorów twitteratury, Seana Hilla (@VeryShortStory). W porównaniu z innymi formatami, wpisy z tagiem #vss nie są złotymi myślami, do czego łatwo sprowadzić może 140-znakowe ograniczenie, ale historiami, często zaskakująco bogatymi.

W przeciwieństwie do śledzenia wpisów na samym Twitterze, co z reguły prowadzi do przypadkowych wyborów, antologia przedstawiająca utwory w sposób uporządkowany i bez elementów rozpraszających uwagę, pozwala w pełni docenić ich wartość. Każdy z autorów znalazł własny styl i wykreował własny świat, który – mimo, że zamykany w 140-znakowych odsłonach – jest niezwykle wyrazisty i jakże odmienny od pozostałych.

Jednym z autorów, którego utwory znalazły się w antologii jest Piotr Kowalczyk, piszący po angielsku jako Nick Name. Wśród jego utworów znajdują się również hashtagstories, czyli historie opowiadane za pomocą popularnych tagów z Twittera. Kowalczyk zaprojektował również okładkę książki.

Antologię można pobrać bezpłatnie z serwisu Smashwords. Dostępna jest w wielu formatach, m.in. epub, mobi, rtf oraz pdf. Można ją więc czytać na każdym urządzeniu: komputerze, tablecie, e-czytniku lub telefonie komórkowym.

Poniżej lista wszystkich autorów wraz z odnośnikami do ich profili na Twitterze oraz blogów.

#VSS Anthology – autorzy

Allan Revich  | Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

Steven Saus | Follow on Twitter

Bryce Anderson | Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

Deepti Lamba | Follow on Twitter |

Anthony Abelaye | Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

Jacob Klucker | Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

Jonathan Pinnock | Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

Charlie Close | Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

Mo Ali | Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

BL Pawelek | Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

Jimmie Fisher | Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

Ed Fonseca | Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

Jennifer Hudock | Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

Small Stories | Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

Rimone | Visit a blog |

Jason Everett Morris

Andrew Freudenberg | Follow on Twitter |

Benjamin S. Wolf | Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

Helene Kwong | Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

Ralph Van Den Berg| Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

Ryan Harron | Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

Judy B. | Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

Tiara Walker | Follow on Twitter |

Seekersince1980 | Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

Nick Name | Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

Thoughtsnot | Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

Moxie Mezcal | Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

R. Alexander Spoerer | Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

Tonya R. Moore | Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

Hyperreal Japan | Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

Trent Martin Kirchner | Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

Tyrone Slopthrop | Follow on Twitter |

Kate Sherrod | Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

Doug Robertson | Follow on Twitter |

Jason Gusmann | Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

Dean Clayton Edwards | Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

Luke Jordan | Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

Related posts

• 14.05.2010 -- Fan of Twitter fiction? Check #VSS Anthology
• 05.08.2009 -- Literatura na Twitterze
• 22.01.2011 -- How You Can Sell E-books to Mobile Twitter Users
• 27.07.2010 -- Creating One Picture Story – a Step-by-step Example
• 16.06.2010 -- Create Your Own One Picture Stories

"Ukazała się antologia literatury na Twitterze [notka]" is a post from Password Incorrect Blog.

Twitter fiction is a fantastic literary phenomenon. It shows how well writers can cope with such a limit as 140 characters. And it brings great results. Many people write fiction on Twitter and the most popular way to follow it is #vss tag. It was originated by the Twitter fiction guru, Very Short Story and quickly adopted by his fans and fellow writers.

This anthology has one outstanding benefit I was not aware until I read it – opposite to Twitter stream, where you read great stories accidentally, you have all the best of it presented the way it should be: organized. Every author in this book has his exceptional voice and brings his unique world to the reader. Just read a couple of his stories in a row and you’re there completely.

Having in mind that Twitter just makes you blink and you’re away in the archives, anthologies like this one have an incredible value.

The book is available for free from Smashwords. You can read it on-line or download to your device. There are many formats available, including ePub, mobi, rtf, pdf and plain text, so I’m sure there is one to fit you e-reading device.

#VSS Anthology is out, but the authors are on. Check what they’re writing about right now on Twitter.

PS. I’m really glad I’m part of this anthology and was helpful in designing the book’s cover.

#VSS Anthology Authors

(in the order of appearance):

Allan Revich  | Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

Steven Saus | Follow on Twitter

Bryce Anderson | Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

Deepti Lamba | Follow on Twitter |

Anthony Abelaye | Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

Jacob Klucker | Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

Jonathan Pinnock | Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

Charlie Close | Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

Mo Ali | Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

BL Pawelek | Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

Jimmie Fisher | Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

Ed Fonseca | Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

Jennifer Hudock | Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

Small Stories | Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

Rimone | Visit a blog |

Jason Everett Morris

Andrew Freudenberg | Follow on Twitter |

Benjamin S. Wolf | Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

Helene Kwong | Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

Ralph Van Den Berg| Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

Ryan Harron | Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

Judy B. | Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

Tiara Walker | Follow on Twitter |

Seekersince1980 | Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

Nick Name | Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

Thoughtsnot | Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

Moxie Mezcal | Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

R. Alexander Spoerer | Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

Tonya R. Moore | Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

Hyperreal Japan | Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

Trent Martin Kirchner | Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

Tyrone Slopthrop | Follow on Twitter |

Kate Sherrod | Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

Doug Robertson | Follow on Twitter |

Jason Gusmann | Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

Dean Clayton Edwards | Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

Luke Jordan | Follow on Twitter | Visit a blog |

Related posts

• 16.05.2010 -- Ukazała się antologia literatury na Twitterze [notka]
• 03.05.2010 -- Hashtagstories – Stories Written as a Sequence of Twitter Hashtags
• 12.10.2009 -- 15 Free Covers for Twitter Fiction Books
• 09.10.2009 -- #VSS Anthology – vote for your favourite cover!
• 14.08.2009 -- Why #vss and #wpss are good for a writer?

"Fan of Twitter fiction? Check #VSS Anthology" is a post from Password Incorrect Blog.

Cover A

A book out of a tweet box. Simple idea, classic book design. I can make a version with strong colors as well.

Cover B

I used Wordle to generate a word cloud. In a final version there will be a cloud made from a final text of the anthology. The idea is to capture a tremendous variety of thoughts and worlds created by #VSS Authors.

I would be grateful if you leave your vote and share comments. For more info please follow @vssanthology.

Related posts

• 12.10.2009 -- 15 Free Covers for Twitter Fiction Books
• 14.05.2010 -- Fan of Twitter fiction? Check #VSS Anthology
• 15.10.2009 -- Publish a Book With Your Literary Tweets
• 03.10.2009 -- How to Turn Wordle Into an E-book Cover Generator
• 14.08.2009 -- Why #vss and #wpss are good for a writer?

"#VSS Anthology – vote for your favourite cover!" is a post from Password Incorrect Blog.

They make writing easier :. You are constanly inspired by all the great stories, which are accompanied by both tags. You don’t wait, you write – because you don’t want to be left behind. For a non-English writer this is also an invitation to break his limits. I skipped #twittnovel, because I realized I can’t be good at it. With literary hashtags I feel like a member of a community, the one who has to learn a lot, but also the one, who is obliged to try. As I fixed my mind on tech-absurd, I’ll write #vss and #wpss on that and only that. Maybe my English is not good enough, but I hope the stories will be interesting enough to accept my language as it is.

They promote short literature :. I greatly believe that the future of literature are short narrative forms – like the ones on Twitter. As both tags lure more and more writers and readers, they are a great way to help digital literature break into mainstream. People stop reading books, because they perceive them as time consuming. But reading a #vss can give you a similar doze of emotions. And it takes a moment – or a stream of moments.

I’ll put tech-absurdies not only on Twitter, but also here, at my blog. The full story in a title – that’s my plan. This is just a fresh idea to show, how short today’s literature can be: post title only. Check for my stories here.

And below you can read the very recent #vss and #wpss literary tweets – which in many cases are mastertweets:

Related posts

• 14.05.2010 -- Fan of Twitter fiction? Check #VSS Anthology
• 09.10.2009 -- #VSS Anthology – vote for your favourite cover!
• 16.05.2010 -- Ukazała się antologia literatury na Twitterze [notka]
• 03.05.2010 -- Hashtagstories – Stories Written as a Sequence of Twitter Hashtags
• 15.10.2009 -- Publish a Book With Your Literary Tweets

"Why #vss and #wpss are good for a writer?" is a post from Password Incorrect Blog.