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WRITERS & THE INTERNET
The First trAce Writers Conference Friday 16 October 1998 with Dale Spender; Mark Amerika; Cynthia Haynes; Jan Rune Holmevik; Liz Bailey; Keith Brooke; Molly Brown; Peter Howard; Heather Rosenblatt "I came away stunned by the implications of this new medium."
At that time it was difficult to appreciate that online writing is not just the poor relation of hardcopy, but an artform in itself. The levels of technical and creative skill simply were not understood, and even today most writers are unaware of the potential of the web. These concerns were echoed in the introduction to the conference: The internet offers great opportunities for writers. There are fascinating new forms of writing to be discovered; interesting people to meet, and swathes of research material to be mined. But it also brings concerns. Authors are worried about copyright and intellectual property. They are wondering how they can earn money from working online. They fear that The Book may be dying.This conference brings together an international group of professional authors and educators with extensive experience of the internet to address some of these anxieties and provide informed opinion about the potential of the net for the artistic community. (Introduction to the 1998 trAce Writers' Conference)
"As a new user, it was very exciting to discover multiple views of the web." "I loved the discussions and the variety of people."
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Writers and the Internet was the first conference to be held in the UK specifically on
the topic of writing and the web. It came at a time when very
few British writers were working online, and the most common opinions
about the internet were that it threatened artistic integrity;
compromised the safety of authorial copyright; and encouraged
the self-publication of mediocre work. 
On the day of the conference, 150 writers, arts organisers and
librarians travelled to Nottingham from all around Britain to
register both their concern and their excitement about the future
of writing in a digital world. We hope they'll return this year
to continue the debate.