Christine Ann Wilks (born 1960) is a British digital writer and artist whose work in

electronic literature Electronic literature or digital literature is a genre of literature where digital capabilities such as interactivity, multimodality or Generative literature, algorithmic text generation are used aesthetically. Works of electronic literature ar ...

has been published in online journals and anthologies. Her interactive ''Fitting the Pattern'' (2008) depicting memories of her mother by drawing on dressmaking tools is considered to be a "born digital" work. ''Underbelly'', presenting a digital account of women working in the pits of northern England, won the New Media Writing Prize 2010 as well as the 2010/11 MaMSIE Digital Media Prize. In 2021, Wilks earned a Ph.D. in digital writing from

Bath Spa University Bath Spa University is a public university in Bath, Somerset, Bath, England, with its main campus at Newton Park, about west of the centre of the city. The university has other campuses in the city of Bath, and one at Corsham Court in Wiltshi ...

with a thesis titled "''Stiched Up in The ''Conversengine'': Using Expressive Processing and Multimodal Languages to Create a Character-Driven Interactive Digital Narrative''".

Biography

Born in June 1960, as of mid-2022, Christine Wilks is based in

Leeds Leeds is a city in West Yorkshire, England. It is the largest settlement in Yorkshire and the administrative centre of the City of Leeds Metropolitan Borough, which is the second most populous district in the United Kingdom. It is built aro ...

in the north of England. After graduating in fine art from the

South Glamorgan Institute of Higher Education South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz' ...

in 1982, Wilks earned a masters degree in Fine Arts from the

Cardiff Institute of Higher Education Cardiff Metropolitan University () is a public university located in Cardiff, Wales. Formerly known as the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff (UWIC; , ) which was established in 1996. The university offers degree courses in a variety of d ...

in 1992. In 2008, she received a second master's degree in creative writing and new media from

De Montfort University De Montfort University Leicester (DMU) is a public university in the city of Leicester, England. It was established in accordance with the Further and Higher Education Act 1992, Further and Higher Education Act in 1992 as a degree awarding body ...

. She went on to earn a Ph.D. in digital writing from Bath Spa University in 2021. Wilks has spent many years with the

electronic learning Educational technology (commonly abbreviated as edutech, or edtech) is the combined use of computer hardware, software, and educational theory and practice to facilitate learning and teaching. When referred to with its abbreviation, "EdTech", ...

company, Make It Happen Now, where since 2011 she has served as creative director. From 2007, she was a key member of R3M1XW0RX, a remixing project for digital media which was developed until 2012. Wilks recounts that she began as a visual artist but moved into filmmaking and joined the trAce Online Writing Centre, set up by Sue Thomas.

Awards

''Underbelly'' won the New Media Writing Prize 2010 and the MaMSIE Digital Media Competition 2011.

Works

Electronic literature works

* ''Writing New Body Worlds'' *''Stitched Up'' * ''Inkubus'', 2014. This is a largely 3D narrative-based game. Reviewed in Electronic Literature as Digital Humanities * ''A Revolution of Words'' (HTML, CSS, Javascript) * ''Upside Down Chandelier'' (Collaboration with

Maria Mencia Maria may refer to: People * Mary, mother of Jesus * Maria (given name), a popular given name in many languages Place names Extraterrestrial *170 Maria, a Main belt S-type asteroid discovered in 1877 *Lunar maria (plural of ''mare''), large, da ...

, Jeneen Naji, and Zuzana Husárová) * ''R3M1XW0RX'', 2007- 2013, various media * ''A crissxross trail'' (originally included Flash) * ''Rememori'', 2011 (originally Flash) * ''Out of Touch'', 2011 (originally Flash) *''Underbelly'', 2010 (originally Flash) . ''Underbelly'' explores a hypertext-guided connection between the carving of a successful sculptor of today and the submissive women who in the past carved out coal from a Yorkshire colliery. Published in Studies in the Maternal, Volume 3 • Issue 2 • 2011 • Special Issue: Motherhood, Servitude and the Delegation of Care Wilks analyzes this piece in #WomenTechLit *''Fitting the Pattern'', 2008 (originally Flash). The interactive ''Fitting the Pattern'' (2008) depicts memories of her mother by drawing on the vocabulary of dressmaking tools. It is considered to be a "born digital" work. The reader is required to cut, sew and weave to appreciate the relationship between daughter and mother. *''Tailspin'', 2008 (originally Flash) * ''Heights'', 2006 (originally Flash). This poem was inspired by the

Sagrada Familia Sagrada is a Spanish word meaning "sacred Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. T ...

and other church spires. * ''IntraVenus'', 2005 (originally Flash). This work combines an image from the Venus of Urbino by Titian as well as voices and photography in a complex polysemy: a phonetic game showing both desire and violence. * ''We Drank'', 2005 (originally Flash) * ''Social Dis-Ease'', 2004 (originally Flash) * ''Sitting Pretty aka Before We Begin'', 2004 (HTML and CSS)

Essays

* ''These Waves …:" Writing New Bodies for Applied E-literature Studies'' Also published in First Person Scholar. * ''Chapter 7: Bodies in Elit'' Edited by Dene Grigar & James O’Sullivan Bloomsbury Academic Bloomsbury Publishing Inc. 2021

References

External links

Christine Wilks website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wilks, Christine 1960 births Living people 21st-century British artists 21st-century British women artists 21st-century British writers 21st-century British women writers Alumni of Bath Spa University Alumni of Cardiff Metropolitan University Alumni of De Montfort University Alumni of the University of Wales British electronic literature writers