The #TwitterFiction Festival lineup

Twitter and the world of fiction will come together March 12-16 for the second #TwitterFiction Festival, a digital storytelling event sponsored by the Association of American Publishers, Penguin Random House, and Twitter. Today, as we gear up for the festival, we’re announcing the lineup of selected authors who will present their eclectic mix of fictional stories to the world on Twitter, all in real time.

When it comes to tweeting fiction, Twitter is a wellspring of creativity. Entries this year make use of techniques like visual storytelling, crowd-sourced and multiple-character tales. There are more than 50 showcase participants from 11 different countries, who will tweet their stories in English, Spanish and Italian. Participating writers include everyone from journalists, to authors, to bloggers, to poets, novices and everyone in between; they explore a tantalizing array of genres including horror, romance, mystery, humor, sci-fi, drama, poetry and realism.

We’ve posted the full lineup, but here’s a short preview of what to expect.

• Ankur Thakkar (@AnkurThakkar) draws on Bollywood conventions — dance, love, heartbreak and humor — to tell a story exclusively through screenshots from Bollywood films.
• David Javerbaum (@TheTweetofGod) will tweet an entirely new book of the Bible, the Book of Bieb. It will relay the saga of the rise and fall of Justin Bieber, the younger brother of Jesus.

• Dugaldo Estrada (@Dugaldo) will produce a collection of 50 illustrated short story Tweets throughout the Twitter Fiction Festival. He’ll write each story, and will crowd- source by tweeting story prompts and suggestions for illustrations. He’ll also integrate other #TwitterFiction authors, characters and fans into his own stories as the festival continues.

Be sure to follow along with these authors, all the others and @TWfictionfest as fiction comes to life on Twitter, March 12-16.