Digital Storytelling and Innovation Network (DSIN) 2026 Conference (2&3/07)

Digital Storytelling and Innovation Network (DSIN) Conference 2026
Leeds School of Arts, Leeds Beckett University

Following the success of our inaugural event in 2025, the DSIN 2026 two-day conference brings together academics and creative practitioners to discuss and evolve the landscape of storytelling in the digital age.

The 2026 conference continues the network’s commitment to interdisciplinary dialogue across the arts, humanities, and creative technologies. The event explores how narrative practices are being reshaped through digital platforms, emerging media, and technological innovation. Focusing on storytelling as this increasingly unfolds across interactive systems, immersive environments, and transmediality, the conference provides a space to critically examine both the creative opportunities and the conceptual challenges these developments introduce.

The programme will feature keynote presentations from leading researchers and practitioners, alongside talks from academics and creatives, with contributions that will reflect on how digital technologies are transforming narrative structures, audience participation, and the cultural role of storytelling.

The first day of the conference focuses on keynote talks and research presentations, concluding with a talk a music composer and performer will give on his personal journey to telling stories to an audience. This is an event that explores storytelling through creative practice and it will be followed by open discussion.

The second day begins with keynote talks but later shifts towards collaborative experimentation. Participants will take part in a facilitated hackathon-style session designed to generate new ideas, interdisciplinary collaborations, and potential research or creative projects connected to the aims of the DSIN. This second day aims to encourage attendees to move beyond passive attendance, towards practical experimentation and the creation of new collaborative initiatives.

Programme:

Day-1

10:00 – Marie Rodet

11:00 – Jez Coram

11:30 – Che John

12:00 – Konstantinos Papathanasiou

12:30 – Lunch break

13:30 – Joachim Friedmann

14:30 – Alex Kelly

15:00 – Martin Wilson

15:30 – Persephone Sextou

16:00 – Richard Hudson-Miles

16:30 – David Aldred

Day-2

10:00 – Hartmut Koenitz

11:00 – Hackathon-style activity

12:30 – Lunch break

13:15 – Hackathon-style activity

14:30 – Hackathon showcase and discussions

We look forward to seeing you there.

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