Performing Authorship in the Digital Literary Sphere

What is the nature of literary authorship in the digital era? On one hand, the Internet has made authorship easier, more democratically accessible and potentially collaborative than ever before. Yet on the other hand we are simultaneously witnessing the rise of the celebrity author, whose website, blog, podcasts and Twitter postings create the impression of a personal relationship with readers. Author tours, writers' festivals and personality-centred media coverage of writing everywhere feed the cult of the celebrity author. This project will draw upon author theory, Internet studies and the burgeoning subfield of digital literary studies to provide the first detailed examination of the paradox that is twenty-first-century authorship.