Discipline/Field: Fiction

Based in: Madison, WI

About: Michael Kaplan is a lover of the Northern California landscape (hailing from the Bay Area) who is fascinated by internet culture, Silicon Valley, and the creep of technology into every element of our world. His fiction focuses on the day-to-day experience of those who grew up in the Information Age, inundated by content, living in a constant contradiction between hyper-connectivity and alienation. Kaplan explores these moments in history (the dot com boom, the app boom, the tech acceleration of the late 90s/early 2000s) in which the very means of human connection splintered into infinite complexity. He says that he is always trying and failing and trying again. He will use the natural peace and quiet at Yefe Nof as “the perfect balance against the technological chaos” which he must mine to finalize his novel. 

Project Title: Chooz is a novel about a struggle between generations, between a father and a son who have trouble understanding one another because of their opposing orientations to technology. With human life shattered into discrete constellations of digital engagement, and the expansion of our digital selves, relationships have been profoundly complicated. Chooz intends to be a worthy addition to the conversation about how the individual and society grapples with these changes.

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