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Authors Margaret Atwood (pictured) and Naomi Alderman are to collaborate on a new fiction series to be published for free on Wattpad. The first three chapters of the book, entitled The Happy Zombie Sunrise Home, are to be posted online today (24th October), with additional instalments going live each Wednesday until 2nd January, for a total of 13 chapters. The two are contributing alternate chapters.
Atwood and Alderman were brought together by the Rolex Mentor and Protegé Arts Initiative, an international programme that pairs established artists with emerging artists in the fields of literature, architecture, dance, film, music, theatre, and visual arts for a year of creative collaboration.
The approach fits with Wattpad's ethos. Writers on Wattpad upload new chapters on a daily or weekly basis—often adding plot twists and turns in response to feedback from Wattpad’s community of 10 million readers.
Allen Lau, chief executive and founder of Wattpad, said Atwood and Alderman "both understand the new patterns of engagement that are happening around serially published stories". He added: "The majority of people on Wattpad are reading on their mobile phones so we believe there is a great fit between serialization and today’s mobile-first, social networked culture."
The serialised novel can be read on Wattpad at wattpad.com/happyzombie.