In this episode Gary Raymond talks to Craig Austin and Dan Tyte about Tyte’s new novel, The Offline Project (Graffeg), a remarkably relevant book that examines the role of social media in our lives.
Read Craig Austin for Wales Arts Review here.
More about Dan Tyte:
Dan Tyte was born and raised in Cardiff before studying English Literature at the University of Liverpool. His debut novel Half Plus Seven (Parthian, 2014) has been described as ‘A lethal cocktail of Bukowski and Mad Men’ by NME, ‘A coming-of-age novel snorting with energy’ by Daily Mail and ‘a raw and impressive debut’ by New Welsh Review. His short story ‘Onwards’ featured in the short story collection Rarebit (Parthian, 2014) and is frequently taught at the American University of Paris. The Western Mail newspaper selected him as their ‘Writer to Watch’ for 2014.
Dan has performed at the Hay Festival, Southbank Centre and Edinburgh Fringe and is a regular commentator on BBC Radio Wales.
More about The Offline Project:
Set in Wales and Denmark, The Offline Project focuses on modern social behaviours and the impact of technology on our lives, relationships and perceptions. The internet defines Gerard Kane. But after a death in the family and a dumping, can going off-grid save him? His pursuit of a life outside the internet takes him from Cardiff, and a web of family members caught in cycles of selfies and online gambling, to a new offline community in the Danish woodlands.
Dan Tyte said ‘The Offline Project is a search for self, sex and WiFi signal. If you live your life with your phone in your hand but really wish you didn’t, you’ll recognise a little of yourself in its characters. The tension in the story concerns itself with how the human race might reboot itself if the internet didn’t exist anymore, if we could create a world without being able to Google things every two minutes, whether we’ve still got it in us.’
Peter Gill, managing director from Graffeg said ‘We are delighted to welcome Dan’s distinctive voice to the Graffeg list with our first contemporary fiction title. The Offline Project is a bold and highly relevant novel that probes into our dependence on the internet, and to what extent we might be able to free ourselves from its pervasive grip.’
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