Professors’ Gift Names WSU Vancouver Reading Room For Born-digital Literature Pioneer (Photo) -07/16/25
VANCOUVER, Wash. – A gift from Washington State University Vancouver professors has led to the naming of a key space in the Electronic Literature Lab in honor of pioneering digital artist Marjorie C. Luesebrink.
Dene Grigar, professor and lead for the Digital Technology and Culture department, and John Barber, professor of Digital Technology and Culture, have together pledged $183,750 to name the Reading Room, used for the preservation, curation and documentation of born-digital literature, The Marjorie C. Luesebrink Reading Room for a term of five years.
The Electronic Literature Lab, hosted on the WSU Vancouver campus, is directed by Grigar and specializes in preserving, conserving and studying born-digital literature, art and games. The gift supports lab staffing, including a team member who worked closely with Luesebrink on several projects. These include the design of a 2022 retrospective of her work, “Horizon Insights,” curated by Grigar and exhibited at The NEXT, the virtual museum, library and preservation space founded by Grigar.
Luesebrink, who published under the pen name M.D. Coverley, created 27 born-digital works of fiction and poetry over three decades, including two groundbreaking interactive novels: “Califia” (Eastgate Systems, 2000) and “Egypt: The Book of Going Forth by Day” (2006). A mentor and close friend to Grigar, Luesebrink served as president of the Electronic Literature Organization and was deeply engaged with ELL throughout its history until her death in October 2023. Grigar now serves as Luesebrink’s archivist and oversees her collected works and papers.
The lab houses Grigar’s personal collection of 84 legacy computers dating back to the late 1970s and has been featured by international media, including BBC News and Stories.
The lab consists of three spaces: the newly named Luesebrink Reading Room, the Archive Room, which holds more than 110 boxes of archival material related to born-digital works, and the Studio, where the lab hosts and streams artist talks, interviews and performances. In 2020, ELL hosted Luesebrink for a live performance of “Califia.”
Luesebrink’s legacy continues through The Marjorie C. Luesebrink Collection, accessible at The NEXT, which preserves her contributions to born-digital literature for future generations. A special reading of Luesebrink’s “Egypt: The Book of Going Forth by Day” will be recorded by Grigar and award-winning poet Stephanie Strickland and available in the collection later this summer.
About WSU Vancouver
As one of six campuses of the WSU system, WSU Vancouver offers big-school resources in a small-school environment. The university provides affordable, high-quality baccalaureate- and graduate-level education to benefit the people and communities it serves. As the only four-year research university in Southwest Washington, WSU Vancouver helps drive economic growth through relationships with local businesses and industries, schools and nonprofit organizations.
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