Event Info
Open Word: Readings and Ideas with Nora Young:
Open Space, in partnership with the University of Victoria Department of Writing...
Wed. February 5th 2014 + Add to Calendar
University of Victoria, ECS Building, Room 104 (All Ages)
1:30pm
By Donation
Event Description
Open Space, in partnership with the University of Victoria Department of Writing, will host Nora Young as part of its literary series, Open Word: Readings and Ideas. She will read from her non-fiction book, The Virtual Self: How Our Digital Lives Are Altering the World Around Us, at Open Space on Wednesday, February 5, at 7:30 p.m. followed by an interview by local writer David Leach. Books, beer, and wine will be available for sale. Young will also read that afternoon at 1:30 p.m. at the University of Victoria, Engineering and Computer Science Building (ECS), Room 104.
Nora Young is the host and creator of Spark, a show about technology and culture that airs nationally on CBC Radio. She was the founding host of Definitely Not the Opera, where she first began writing and broadcasting about technologically mediated change. She also has an indie podcast called The Sniffer, about trends in technology, media, and the arts and has produced documentaries for CBC shows such as Ideas. Her book of non-fiction, The Virtual Self: How Our Digital Lives Are Altering the World Around Us, appears with McClelland & Stewart in 2013. Young has spoken at the Podcasters Across Borders and Northern Voice conferences and has contributed to the Toronto Star. She lives in Toronto.
David Leach’s first book, Fatal Tide: When the Race of a Lifetime Goes Wrong, was released in 2008 by Penguin Canada and won the Special Jury Mention at the Banff International Mountain Book Festival.
Young explores the very real impact of the virtual information we generate about ourselves—on our own lives, our communities, and our government. We generate enormous amounts of online data about our habits: where we go, what we do, and how we feel. Some of that is stuff we choose to report; some of it is the offhand data trails we leave behind. The Virtual Self looks at the debates and challenges around virtual data-sharing—from Facebook status updates to Google Navigator— and its potential for building more responsive communities and governments. Young argues that
if we wrestle now with issues like privacy and data control, we can harness the power of that data. Young has fascinating information at her disposal, unique insights into the intersection of the virtual and real worlds, and a wonderful voice for making all of these clear to a general audience. Accessible and entertaining, The Virtual Self takes that personal, psychological reality of everything from email to status updates and teases out the increasingly bigger impacts on the real world around us of the virtual information we all generate.
“A book bursting with exciting and occasionally alarming ideas. The Virtual Self is a must read.” —Cathi Bond, Rabble.ca
Venue
University of Victoria, ECS Building, Room 104
In-Person Event
