Last night Canongate held a live online question and answer session with Niccolò Ammaniti over on the World Literature Forum, a Web destination for discussing literature translated into English.

Holding online Q&As on a forum could be very messy and daunting to wade through, but the site owner split the Q and the A - all the Qs went into one thread, and Niccolò posted his As in another, dedicated, thread. I, along with Lizzy of Lizzy's Literary Life fame, sat in as co-chairs, although it was so well-organised we didn't really need to bother!

The questions came in fast and furious, and Niccolò answered them almost as quickly. The two hours flew by.

While the Internet 'touch' is more anonymous and much less personal than a real-life Q&A, there were many more questions answered - simply because no one needed to be shy! Meeting an author can be a thrill, but if you really want to get to know them, you need to get online.

Here are a few impressions of the Q&A from those who were there.

From Stewart of booklit (and  owner of the World Literature Forum):

"Although the event passed without any major problems, it caused a fair bit of stress in trying to come up with how best to shape it. Where a live audience can produce a show of hands, that's not so easy on a discussion forum. And where a chatroom can see people ask questions, there's the problem that everyone can talk over each other, effectively losing the author's answers in the squall.

"Overall it was a success, not just in my opinion but of those members who took part. By allowing members to post questions in advance, it allowed those who couldn't make it online to take part and let Ammaniti take a methodical approach to answering. The activity and interest it generated was great, filling the allotted time and it was an honour to be able to participate. I consider it a step in the right direction, not just for the forum itself, but in suggesting new methods in promoting literature online."

From LizzySiddal of Lizzy's Literary Life :

The time: Wednesday 14.1.2009 The place: Stewart's World Literature Forum. The event: A groundbreaking live Q&A of award-winning Italian author - Niccolo Ammaniti in which the author was questioned by readers from 7 countries / 3 continents. Kudos to Stewart and Canongate, who between them simplified the technology and the process to such an extent that everything flowed beautifully. As co-host I had nothing to do but sit back and enjoy a glass of Pinot Grigio and the dialogue between author and readers ....

... unlike Ammaniti who worked his charming and impeccable English-speaking socks off! In contrast to audiences at live events, there was no shyness about asking questions. We kept him busy for the full two hours because Canongate had supplied us with advanced reading copies. So the questions weren't superficial either. Ammaniti's answers were honest and insightful. He even revealed details about the current work in progress. I'll be grabbing that as soon as it hits the shelves. By which time I hope the author has recovered from his inevitable exhaustion and is willing to stage a second event! Ciao!

From Rob of RobAroundBooks:

"The Q&A with Niccolò Ammaniti was for me a truly a memorable event. It offered a rare opportunity for a lowly minnow like me to talk face-to-face with a respected author, and for that I'm grateful.

"I would have liked to have seen a much higher turnout for this Q&A but the quality of both the questions put forward, and Niccolò's responses to them, made up for any shortfall in attendance figures."

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