Writing

Books | Poems | Journalism | Articles + Chapters + Papers (1998-Present)
Mary Flanagan writes creative and nonfiction/scholarly books in addition to poems and short stories. Works available in translation are listed at the end.

Books

Playing Oppression: The Legacy of Conquest and Empire in Board Games – MIT Press 2023.
Purchase or Download: MIT Press

“A striking analysis of popular board games’ roots in imperialist reasoning – and why the future of play depends on reckoning with it.”

MapscotchStuttgart: V_____erlag für Handbücher 2021.
Purchase: Amazon US | V_____erlag für Handbücher

“This handbook of artist-created hopscotches ties together storytelling with drawing and bodily movement, making it a perfect fit for reflecting the world around us …” (read more…)

Ghost SentenceAtmosphere Press 2017.
Purchase: Bookshop | Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon France

A book of poems whose “charged lines shimmer between desire and disaster” (read more…)

Values at Play in Digital Games – Cambridge: MIT Press 2014.
Purchase: MIT Press | Amazon

A theoretical and practical guide to integrating human values into the conception and design of digital games. (read more…)

Critical Play: Radical Game Design – Cambridge: MIT Press 2009.
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This book is the quintessential text for the art history of games, starting with ancient games to the present time, examining at the ways games can perform critical interactions. (read more…)

re:skin – Cambridge: MIT Press 2007.
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In re:skin, scholars, essayists and short story writers offer their perspectives on skin—as boundary and surface, as metaphor and physical reality. (read more…)

The Sims: Similitudini, Simboli, SimulacriMilan: Edizioni Unicopli 2003.
Purchase: Amazon

This co-authored book, in Italian, explores domestic space, player experience, and the fan culture of The Sims. (read more…)

RELOAD: rethinking women + cyberculture – Cambridge: The MIT Press 2002.
Purchase: MIT Press | Amazon

An anthology of feminist cyberfiction and theoretical and critical writings on gender and technoculture. (read more…)

Poems

“Substance A always reacts to Substance B,” “The One and the Multiple,” “Being Transformed into a Phoenix,” “Enough,” and “Parking Lot at Whole Foods,”in Heavy Feather Volume Seven, 2017.

“And by taking your hand,” “Camouflage,” “The Secret of Nights and Days,” “Desire is Rarely Fulfilled,” and “From One End of the Map to the Other,” in Fence, 2015.

“They Always Come,” and “Death of My Dungeonmaster,” in Barrow Street, Annual Issue, 2013-2014.

“hoisting the lower saints” in The Pinch, 2012.

“enthroned on the seat that sees into all worlds,” and “the nature of judgment,” in Barrow Street, Annual issue, 2011.

“something more remains mysterious,” in MUDFISH 17, 2011.

“the abstract injunction,” “ministering a stream,” and “window” in Saranac Review, Issue 6, 2010.

“the only point of rupture.” Open Windows III: An Anthology of Poetry, Fiction + Essays, ed. Matthew Davis. Denver, CO: Ghost Road Press, 2008.

“ministering a flood (update with god I)” and “ministering a tornado (update with god II),” in Barrow Street, December 2007.

“a pure subjective commitment is possible,” and “insubstantial stuff of pure being,” in The Iowa Review, December 2007.

“Simple Prisoners,” in Chronogram, March 2007.

“for Michel Heizer,” in Chronogram, January 2007.

“motion downward,” Prism International, 2006. 

“A Grand March,” Wild Goose Poetry Review, 2006. 

“Law as Metaphor and Morality,” Adagio Verse Quarterly, 2006.

“mass x velocity2 / radius,” Adagio Verse Quarterly, 2006.

“Sackett Street,” Ampersand Poetry Journal, 2006. 

e-Literature

[theHouse] The Electronic Literature Collection, 2006.

[theHouse] infLect: a journal of multimedia writing, 2006.

[rootwords] HOW2 Contemporary Innovative Writing By Women, Issue 7, 2002.

[The Perpetual Bed], Third Bed Journal, 2001.

Short Stories

A private correspondence to David Theurer, written by H. P. Lovecraft, 12th January 1919 from the tempest,” in Well Played 1.0, 2009.

Journalism

The rise of the “Automacene”: How Robots Will Define the Next Epoch in Human History.Salon.com, 16 June 2018.

Spies like us: How Computers Bonded the U.S. and Russia.” Salon.com, 15 October 2017.

 “In Defense of Solitaire, the “Perfect Game”: Mindfulness, Video Games and the Importance of Downtime. Salon.com, 20 August 2017.

It’s Been a Bad Week for Inclusion in Tech.Role Reboot, 10 August 2017.

The Trouble with Whiteboard Interviews.” with Mary Hudson, Concord Monitor, 21 December 2015.

Egalitarian Entrepreneurship?The Huffington Post, 24 March 2015.

Creative Solutions to Crises — Through Play.The Huffington Post, 16 October 2014.

Violent Video Games Reveal the Dark Side of Play.The Huffington Post, 31 July 2014.

Don’t Demonize Video Games for Violence.USA Today, 24 July 2014. Republished in: Chicago Sun Times, 25 July 2014; Wassau Daily Herald, 26 July 2014; My Central Jersey, 26 July 2014; published as: “Video Games Much More Than Violent.” Guam Pacific Daily News, 26 July 2014; published as “Video-Game Violence Overblown.” The Daily Record California, 26 July 2014.

The Classroom as Arcade.Inside Higher Education, 6 June 2014.

Expanding our Wikiverse: How You Can Save Libraries With Just a Few Clicks.OZY.com, 26 May 2014.

Video Game Industry Needs To Be More Gender Inclusive.San Francisco Chronicle, 19 March 2014.

By 2020, Make the Game Industry 50/50.Gamasutra, 18 March 2014.

Why the Pinkification of Children’s Toys Hurts Women.” The Daily Beast, 26 February 2014.

Michael Suk-Young Chwe, Jane Austin, Game Theorist.” American Journal of Play, 6(1), Fall 2013.

Rethinking the F Word: A Review of Activist Art on the Internet.” National Women’s Studies Association Journal (Special Issue: Feminist Activist Art), 19(1), pp 181-200, Spring 2007.

Friendsters, Tricksters, and Playculture.New York Law Review 49(1), p 19, Fall 2004.

Digital Stars Are Here to Stay.Convergence: The Journal of Research Into New Media Technologies, Eds. J. Knight and A. Weedon, University of Luton, Summer 1999.

“The Sky is Falling! Why Are Virtual Worlds So Desolate?” Images Journal,  Eds. G. Tracey, C. Norton, and E. Abele, September 1998.

Articles+ Chapters + Papers

Select a year or scroll down.
2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998

2024

  • Flanagan, Mary. “The Power of Gameworlds.” Sharing Desired Futures – Practices of Futurecasting, Ed. Michael Shamiyeh, De Gruyter/Birkhauser, Forthcoming 2024.

2023

  • Editors, American Journal of Play. “Interview with Mary Flanagan.” American Journal of Play. Forthcoming 2023-24.
  • Flanagan, Mary. “Designer Perspective.” Game Design Workshop: A Playcentric Approach to Creating Innovative Games, Fifth Edition by Tracy Fullerton. Forthcoming 2023.
  • Flanagan, Mary. . “Operations & Encounters: Playing Out Performativity.” Proceedings from the Live Performance and Video games: Appropriations, Inspirations & Mutual Transfers, 5, 6 and 7th of October 2022, International Online Symposium. Forthcoming 2023.

2022

  • Flanagan, M. “Pastoral, Theo Triantafyllidis.” WORLDBUILDING: Gaming and Art in the Digital Age (Exhibition Catalog Essay). Julia Stoshchek Collection 15th Anniversary Exhibition, curated by Hand Ulrich Obrist. Düsseldorf: Julia Stoshchek Collection.
  • Flanagan, M. and Garrett, M. “Grace [Help Me Know the Truth]: Conversation with Mary Flanagan.” Frankenstein Reanimated: Conversations with Artists in Dystopian Times. Eds. Y. Kolakides and M. Garrett, London: Torque Editions, pp. 73-90.

2021

2020

2019

2018

2017

2016

  • Seidman, M., Flanagan, M., Rose-Sandler, T. and Lichtenberg, M. “Are Games a Viable Solution to Crowdsourcing Improvements to Faulty OCR? – The Purposeful Gaming and BHL Experience.” Code4Lib Journal.
  • Seidman, M., Freedman, G. and Flanagan, M. “Solving the Feedback Problem in Crowdsourcing Games: Design Lessons from Smorball.” Meaningful Play Conference, East Lansing, MI.
  • Freedman, G., Seidman, M., Virginia, R. and Flanagan, M. “Creating Games to Combat Climate Change.” Meaningful Play Conference, East Lansing, MI.
  • Freedman, G., Punjasthitkul, S., Seidman, M. and Flanagan, M. “Feedback and Timing in a Crowdsourcing Game.” Human Computation Conference, Austin, TX.
  • Flanagan, M. and Kaufman, G. “Shifting Implicit Biases with Games using Psychology: The Embedded Design Approach.” Diversifying Barbie and Mortal Kombat: Perspectives on Gender, Race, & Sexuality in Gaming. Eds Y. Kafai, G. Coleman, and B. Tynes. CMU/ETC, pp. 219-233.
  • Kaufman, G. and Flanagan, M. “Playing the System: Comparing the Efficacy and Impact of Digital and Non-digital Versions of a Collaborative Strategy Game.” Proceedings of the Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA).
  • Kaufman, G., Green, M., and Flanagan, M. “Self-Esteem and Public Self-Consciousness Moderate the Emotional Impact of Expressive Writing about Experiences with Bias.” International Communications Association.
  • Kaufman, G., Green, M., and Flanagan, M. “Using Stories to Increase Understanding of Gender Bias and Stereotype Threat in STEM.” NSF ADVANCE/GSE Program Workshop, Baltimore, MD.
  • Kaufman, G., Flanagan, M. and Punjasthitkul, S. “Investigating the Impact of ‘Emphasis Frames’ and Social Loafing on Player Motivation and Performance in a Crowdsourcing Game.” Proceedings of CHI.
  • Kaufman, G., and Flanagan, M. “High-Low Split: Divergent Cognitive Construal Levels Triggered by Digital and Non-digital Platforms.” Proceedings of CHI.
  • Flanagan, M. “Critical Play as an Art History Framework.“ In and Out of Art History: The Video Game Conundrum, UK Association of Art Historians, Edinburgh Scotland.
  • Flanagan, M. “An Alternate History of Wargaming.” Zones of Control. Eds. P. Harrigan and M. Kirschenbaum, MIT Press, pp. 703-707.
  • Flanagan, M. “Game Art.” Debugging Game History: A Critical Lexicon. Eds. R. Guins and H. Lowood, MIT Press, pp. 151-158.
  • Flanagan, M. “Games as a Medium.” Debugging Game History: A Critical Lexicon. Eds. R. Guins and H. Lowood, MIT Press, pp. 221-228.
  • Flanagan, M. “Critical Play: The Productive Paradox.” Blackwell Companion to Digital Art. Ed. C. Paul, New York: Wiley Blackwell, pp. 445-460.

2015

2014

2013

2012

2011

  • Flanagan, Mary. “Play, Participation, and Art: Blurring the Edges.” Context Providers. Eds. M. Lovejoy, C. Paul and V. Vesna, University of Chicago Press (Intellect Press).
  • Flanagan, M., Seidman, M., Belman, J., Punjasthitkul, S., Downs, Z., Ayoob, M., Driscoll, A., and Downs, M.  “Preventing a POX Among the People? Community-based Game Design for ‘Herd Immunity.’” Proceedings of the Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA).
  • Belman, J., Flanagan, M., Nissenbaum, H., and Diamond, J. “Grow-A-Game: A Tool for Values Conscious Design and Analysis of Digital Games.”  Proceedings of the Digital Games Research Association (DiGRA).
  • Belman, J, Flanagan, M, Nissenbaum, H. and Diamond, J. “Grow-A-Game: A Tool for Values Conscious Design and Analysis of Digital Games.” Ethics in Computer Games & Cinema. Ed. J. Zagal, San Diego: Cognella Press.

2010

2009

2008

2007

  • Flanagan, M. “The Sims: Suburban Utopias.Space Time Play: Synergies Between Computer Games, Architecture and Urbanism. Eds. D. Davidson, F. von Borries, H. Kelley, J. Kücklich, M. Böttger and S. Walz, Birkhauser Publishing, Basel Boston Berlin, pp. 150-152.
  • Flanagan, M., Howe, D. and Nissenbaum, H. “New Design Methods for Activist Gaming.” Worlds In Play: International Perspectives on Digital Games Research. Eds. S. deCastell and J. Jensen, NY: Peter Lang, pp. 241-48.
  • Flanagan, M. “Reskinning the Everyday.” re: skin. Cambridge: MIT Press, pp. 303-319.
  • Flanagan, M., Nissenbaum, H., Belman, J. and Diamond, J. “A Method For Discovering Values in Digital Games.” Proceedings of the Digital Games Research Association (DIGRA).
  • Flanagan, M. and Nissenbaum, H. “A Game Design Methodology to Incorporate Social Activist Themes.” Proceedings of CHI (Computer Human Interaction Conference), New York, NY: ACM Press, pp. 181 – 190.
  • Flanagan, M., Nissenbaum, H., Belman, J. “Game Design Heuristics for Activist Games.” Full Paper, Proceedings of CHI (Computer Human Interaction Conference), San Jose TX.
  • Plass, J., Goldman, R., Flanagan, M., Diamond, J., Dong, C., Looui, S., Song, H., Rosalia, C. and Perlin, K. “RAPUNSEL: How a Computer Game Designed Based on Educational Theory Can Improve Girls’ Self-Efficacy and Self-Esteem.Proceedings of the American Educational Research Association, Chicago, IL.
  • Flanagan, M. and Nissenbaum, H. “Locating Play and Politics: Real World Games and Political Action.” Proceedings of the Digital Arts and Culture Conference, Perth Australia.
  • Flanagan, M. and Looui, S. “Rethinking the F Word: A Review of Activist Art on the Internet.” National Women’s Studies Association Journal (Special Issue: Feminist Activist Art), Volume 19, Number 1, pp. 181-200.
  • Flanagan, Mary. “Mobile Identities, Digital Stars, and Post-Cinematic Selves.” Wide Angle: Issue on Digitality and the Memory of Cinema. 21:3, 1999, pp. 77-93. Reprint: Stardom and Celebrity: A Reader. Eds. S. Redmond + and S. Holmes. London: Sage.

2006

  • Flanagan, Mary. “My Profile, Myself in Playculture.” Exploring Digital Artefacts. Eds. J. Bornebusch and P. Hernwall, M3 Publication, pp. 20-29.
  • Flanagan, M. “Making Games for Social Change.” AI & Society: The Journal of Human-Centered Systems, London: Springer, 20(4), pp. 493-505.
  • Flanagan, M.The ‘Nature’ of Networks: Space and Place in the Silicon Forest.” Nature et Progrès : Interactions, Exclusions, Mutations. Ed. P. Lagayette. Paris-Sorbonne: Presses de l’Université.
  • Silverstein, J., Nissenbaum, H., Flanagan, M. and Freier, N. “Ethics and Children’s Information Systems.” Proceedings of the ASIST Annual Meeting, Volume 43.
  • Flanagan, Mary. “Politicising Playculture.” GAME/PLAY Exhibition Catalog, HTTP Gallery, London.

2005

2004

  • Flanagan, M. “Developing Virtual Performance Spaces.” American Puppetry. Ed. P. Dircks, New York: Theatre Library Association.
  • Flanagan, Mary. “Response to Celia Pearce: Computer Gaming.” First Person. Eds. N. Wardrip-Fruin and P. Harrigan. Cambridge: MIT Press, pp. 143-145.

2003

  • Flanagan, M. “The Bride Stripped Bare to her Data: Information Flow and Digibodies.Data Made Flesh: Embodying Information. Eds. P. Thurtle and R. Mitchell, New York: Routledge.
  • Flanagan, M. “Next Level: Women’s Digital Activism through Gaming.” Eds. A. Morrison, G. Liestøl and T. Rasmussen. Digital Media Revisited. Cambridge: MIT Press, pp. 359-388.
  • Flanagan, M. “Une Maison de poupée virtuelle capitaliste? The Sims: Domesticité, consummation et féminité.” La pratique du jeu vidéo: réalité ou virtualité?. Ed. Mélanie Roustan et Dominique Desjeux. Paris: L’Harmattan, 2003, 175-188.
  • Flanagan, Mary. “SIM-plement L’espace du Genre? Vies Domestiques, Consommation et Le Sims (SIMply Gendered Space? Domesticity, Consumption and The Sims).” Consommations & Sociétés: Cahiers pluridisciplinaire sur la consommation et l’interculturel. Ed. M. Roustan et D. Desjeux.
  • Flanagan, M. “SIMple and Personal: Domestic Space and The Sims.” Proceedings of the 5th International Digital Arts & Culture Conference, RMIT, Melbourne, Australia.
  • Flanagan, Mary. “gender + play: domestic space + consumption.” Intelligent Agent, 43(1).

2002

2001

  • Flanagan, M. “Spatialized MagnoMemories.” Culture Machine 3 – Virologies: Culture and Contamination. Eds. D. Boothroyd and G. Hall.
  • Perng, K., Wang, W., Flanagan, M. and Ouhyoung, M. “A Real-time 3D Virtual Sculpting Tool Based on Marching Cube.” ICAT2001, Tokyo, Japan.

2000

  • Flanagan, M. “Navigating the Narrative in Space: Gender and Spatiality in Virtual Worlds. Art Journal, Vol 59(3), pp. 74-85.
  • Flanagan, Mary. “Navigating Narratives: Women’s Use of Virtual Space.” Women in Storytelling. Ed. A. Kavanagh. Sydney, Nova Scotia: University College of Cape Breton Press.
  • Flanagan, M. and Egert, C. “Courseware Quality and the Collaborative Classroom: Implementing IOS Courseware to Generate Seminar-style Interactions.” IMEJ, The Interactive Multimedia Electronic Journal of Computer-Enhanced Learning.
  • Egert, C., Flanagan, M. and Walters, D. “Web Based Collaboration for Introductory Programming Courses.” Proceedings of the International Conference on Engineering Education, Taiwan, China.
  • Egert, C., Flanagan, M. and Walters, D. “Extending IOS’s Collaboration via Web-Enabled Whiteboards.” Proceedings of WebNet 2000 –World Conference of the WWW, Internet and Intranet. Eds. H. Maurer and R. Olson, Association for the Advancment of Computing in Education (AACE), Charlottesville, NC.
  • Flanagan, M. “Using Multimedia Courseware to Bring Together Theory and Practice.” Proceedings of WebNet 2000 –World Conference of the WWW, Internet and Intranet. Eds. H. Maurer and R. Olson, Association for the Advancemt of Computing in Education (AACE), Charlottesville, NC.
  • Flanagan, M. “Interfacing Differently: Educating Girls in a Changing Digital Landscape.” Proceedings of WebNet 2000 –World Conference of the WWW, Internet and Intranet. Eds. H. Maurer and R. Olson, Association for the Advancemt of Computing in Education (AACE), Charlottesville, NC.

1999

  • Flanagan, M. “Mobile Identities, Digital Stars, & Post-Cinematic Selves.” Wide Angle: Issue on Digitality and the Memory of Cinema, 21:3.
  • Flanagan, M. “Digital Stars Are Here to Stay.” convergence: the journal of research into new media technologies. Eds. J. Knight and A. Weedon, University of Luton.
  • Flanagan, M. “Navigable Narratives: Gender and Spatiality in Virtual Worlds. Proceedings from Exploring Cyber Society, Vol 1. Eds. J. Armitage and J. Roberts. Newcastle: University of Northumbria.
  • Flanagan, M. “Practicing Stereotypes: Exploring Gender Stereotypes Online.” Proceedings of SITE99: Society of Information Technology and Teacher Education. Eds. H. Maurer and R. Olson, Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE), Charlottesville, NC.
  • Flanagan, M. and Egert, C. “Assessing the Success of Seminars on the Web.” Proceedings of WebNet 99–World Conference of the WWW, Internet and Intranet. Eds. H. Maurer and R. Olson, Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE), Charlottesville, NC.

1998

  • Flanagan, Mary. “The Sky is Falling! Why Are Virtual Worlds So Desolate?” Images Journal.  Eds. G Tracey, C Norton, + E Abele. Sept 1998.
  • Flanagan, M. and Egert, C. “Providing Seminars on the Web.” Proceedings of WebNet 98–World Conference of the WWW, Internet + Intranet. Eds. H Maurer and R. G. Olson. Charlottesville: Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education (AACE), 1998, pp. 313 – 317. BEST PAPER AWARD

In Translation

  • Flanagan, M. e Nissenbaum, H. Values at Play: Valores em jogos digitais. São Paulo: Blucher, 2014/2016.
  • La novia desnudada hasta sus mismísimos datos: flujo de información + digicuerpos.
    X0y1: #ensayos sobre género y ciberespacio__. Coordinadora Remedios Zafra, Traduce Natalia Pérez-Galdós. Madrid: Arte Género Ciberespacio, 2010, pp. 12-48.
  • Identidades móviles, estrellas digitales y yoes postcinemáticos. 
    X0y1: #ensayos sobre género y ciberespacio__.
    Coordinadora Remedios Zafra, Traduce Natalia Pérez-Galdós. Madrid: Arte Género Ciberespacio, 2010, pp. 118 -136.
  • Flanagan, M. “Une Maison de Poupee Virtuelle Capitaliste? The Sims: Domesticité, Consommation, et Féminité.” Consommations & Sociétés N° 1: Cahiers pluridisciplinaire sur la consommation et l’interculturel.  Ed. Mélanie Roustan et Dominique Desjeux. Paris: L’Harmattan, 2001.