Participatory Historical Fiction Project (nonfiction)
The Participatory Historical Fiction Project is a participatory literary project organized by Karl Jones.
Goals
I propose to —
- Write set of vignettes based on historic people and events, with a fictional viewpoint character for each historic person.
- Recruit participants to select the historic people, and to invent fictional characters who are somehow associated with the historic people.
Participation
Select a historical person, someone of interest to you.
- "Historic" means a real person who I can look up on Wikipedia or elsewhere
- Must be deceased (or must have permission from the historic figure in question)
Invent a fictional character who provides the viewpoint on the fictional character
- This is where you get creative
- Can be as simple or as detailed as you please
- Provide a name, at a minimum
- Preferably with a short biographic statement about the fictional character, a paragraph or two giving some context how this fictional person relates to the historic person
I promise to treat all entries with serious literary respect, whether traditional historical fiction or idiosyncratic adventures in time and space, and to give full credit to all participants.
Send me your information on Facebook, or by email: karl@karljones.com
Cast of characters
| Historic | Fictional | Story |
|---|---|---|
| Yi Sun-sin | Joo Won Sung | Sung is a sailor in Yi Sun-sin's fleet whose heroic action helps the day at the Battle of Myeongnyang. |
| Harold Godwinson | Robert fitz John | fitz John is a soldier in the service of William who has monastic connections to Harold's camp |
| War of the Roses matriarch | Isabella de Ambergini Poliaiana | Poliaiana is an Italian with Medici connections who witnesses the War of the Roses. |
| Magnus Erlendsson, Earl of Orkney | Anonymous cook in the service of Magnus | The cook prepares supper for himself, reflecting on the life and death of Magnus. |
Scale
By "vignettes" I mean "I'm not sure what's going to happen, how big a response I'm going to get to this project, let's start small and adapt as we go." If it were to scale up .... "Dubliners". I would want to write Dubliner-sized stories set throughout history, linked by unwritten premises.