Sewell named as UNSW Literary Fellow

A pioneering script allowing audiences to enter a virtual environment and interact with 3D digital humanoid characters is the aim of the latest UNSW Literary Fellowship

Stephen Sewell, one of Australia's most celebrated contemporary playwrights, has been named as the 2008-2009 UNSW Literary Fellow.

The Fellowship, valued at $12,000, is funded by the University's volunteer U Committee and awarded every two years to a writer whose work in progress would benefit from the time at the University. Previous winners have included Oodgeroo Noonuccal (formerly Kath Walker), David Foster, Les Murray and Kate Grenville.

Best known for his film and theatre work, including his AFI award-winning script The Boys, Sewell will work with the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and the College of Fine Arts on developing two scripts for the iCinema Centre, creators of the world's first stereoscopic 360-degree cinematic theatre.

Working alongside the iCinema's Associate Professor Dennis Del Favaro and Professor Jeffrey Shaw, Sewell will develop a script titled Scenario, for an Australian Research Council funded project inspired by Samuel Beckett's approach to experimental television.

The project will allow audiences to interact with three-dimensional humanoid characters who are projected onto the cinema's 360-degree screen.

A second script, Triage will be developed into a DVD short film on 20th Century poet Paul Celan and his relationships with philosophers Martin Heidegger and Hannah Arendt.

"We are very excited by the prospect of working with Stephen, a writer who has garnered more awards than any other Australian playwright of his generation," says Associate Professor Del Favaro.

"Stephen's Scenario script represents cutting edge research on the development of interactive narrative for digital humanoid characters that are able to interpret human behaviour and interact with iCinema audiences."

Sewell, whose Fellowship will also involve workshops for undergraduate and postgraduate students, says he's excited by the opportunity to work on the world-first digital media application.

"The iCinema program is one of the most important technological developments Australia has seen in terms of Creative Media. And they are now moving from the cutting edge technology aspect into its applications," he explains.

Sewell says he's staggered by the scope of the work being done in creative media in general and by the iCinema Centre in particular.

"These 3D generated humanoid figures generated by the iCinema Centre can be aware of where a real human being is and as a result of that they can interact with that person."

The aim is to present Scenario for the Sydney Festival 2009/10, in a similar format to iCinema's previous project, the critically acclaimed T_Visionarium which was presented for the Sydney Festival 2008.

Triage will be published in 2009 as a DVD-Video and exhibited in Australia and Europe.

The announcement also appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald.

MEDIA CONTACT: Steve Offner, UNSW Media Office (02) 9385 1583 or 0424 580 208.