South by Southwest announced today that Austin-based “writer who draws” Austin Kleon would deliver the opening keynote at next year’s Interactive Conference.
In a media landscape best characterized as a veritable cornucopia overflowing with words and information, Kleon is perhaps most remembered for his work striking those words out; his 2010 release, Newspaper Blackout (Harper Perennial) is a collection of poetry constructed from carefully redacted pages of The New York Times.
Since then, he’s also released 2012’s Steal Like an Artist and even shared some tips for aspiring writers here on the Chronicle website.
And come next spring, the former librarian-turned-web-designer-turned-copywriter will be sharing his thoughts on the digital landscape with a much bigger audience. The annual Interactive Conference now draws 25,000-plus attendees each March to talk tech, release new apps, and generally converge on the Silicon Valley of the South.
Last year‘s keynoter was MakerBot‘s Bre Pettis, CEO of the premier 3-D printing company. Read all of our SXSW 2013 coverage over here, and stay tuned to that same page as 2014 news begins to trickle in.
This article appears in August 23 • 2013.