(Source: Shuttleworth Foundation, CC-BY)

On 30 September 2009, the world’s first mobile novel – or m-novel – published in both English and isiXhosa was launched. Kontax, a teen mystery story, was created for the Shuttleworth Foundation’s m4Lit project, lead by Steve Vosloo.

Standing for “mobiles for literacy” the project aims to explore whether teens are interested in reading stories on their cellphones, whether and how they write using their cellphones, and whether cellphones might be used to develop literacy skills and a love of reading. The hope behind the m4Lit project is that by researching the role of cellphones in teen reading and writing, educationalists and publishers can better understand the opportunities and challenges for literacy practices presented by the most popular communication device used by any teen today.