City of Literature explained

UNESCO's City of Literature programme is part of the wider Creative Cities Network.

The Network was launched in 2004, and now has member cities in seven creative fields. The other creative fields are: Crafts and Folk Arts, Design, Film, Gastronomy, Media Arts, and Music.^[1]

Criteria

To be approved as a City of Literature, cities need to meet a number of criteria set by UNESCO.^[2]

Designated UNESCO Cities of Literature share similar characteristics:

• Quality, quantity, and diversity of publishing in the city
• Quality and quantity of educational programmes focusing on domestic or foreign literature at primary, secondary, and tertiary levels
• Literature, drama, and/or poetry playing an important role in the city
• Hosting literary events and festivals, which promote domestic and foreign literature
• Existence of libraries, bookstores, and public or private cultural centres, which preserve, promote, and disseminate domestic and foreign literature
• Involvement by the publishing sector in translating literary works from diverse national languages and foreign literature
• Active involvement of traditional and new media in promoting literature and strengthening the market for literary products

Cities submit bids to UNESCO to be designated a City of Literature. The designations are monitored and reviewed every four years by UNESCO.

About the cities

In 2004, Edinburgh became the first literary city. It hosts the annual International Book Festival and has its own poet laureate—the Makar.^{[3] [4]}

Ljubljana runs their Library Under the Treetops at various locations across the city, including Tivoli City Park and Zvezda Park. These sites offer a selection of book genres and several domestic and foreign newspapers and magazines.^[5]

Manchester is home to the "world-class" Central Library and the "historic gems" of The Portico, John Rylands, and Chetham's.^[6]

Melbourne's is home to Australia's oldest public library State Library of Victoria, the Centre of Books, Writing and Ideas The Wheeler Centre and was home to the world's biggest book shop Cole's Book Arcade, opened at the turn of the twentieth century.

Prague's "great intellectual and creative resources," includes the book design, illustration, typography, and graphic design fields. It also has the National Library of the Czech Republic among over 200 libraries, one of Europe's highest concentrations of bookshops, and the Prague Writers' Festival.^[7]

Libraries in other literary cities, include: Braidense National Library in Milan, Heidelberg University Library, and the National Library of Ireland in Dublin.^{[8] [9] [10]}

Dunedin is the "Edinburgh of the South", and home to New Zealand's oldest university. Durban is "fun-loving."^{[11] [12]}

Montevideo is a "vibrant, eclectic place" and Québec City is a "gorgeous, seductive place."^{[13] [14]}

Cities of Literature

There are fifty-three Cities of Literature, spanning thirty-nine countries and six continents.

Twenty-four of the represented cities are European, seven are Asian, and three are North American. Oceania is represented by three cities, while South America and Africa have two designated cities each.

Ten countries have two designated cities, while the UK has five.

The Cities of Literature are:

City	Country	Year of inscription
Angoulême	France	2019^[15]
Baghdad	Iraq	2015^[16]
Barcelona	Spain	2015^[17]
Beirut	Lebanon	2019
Bremen	Germany	2023^[18]
Bucheon		2017^[19]
Buffalo City	South Africa	2023
Dublin	Ireland	2010^[20]
Dunedin	New Zealand	2014^[21]
Durban	South Africa	2017^[22]
Edinburgh	United Kingdom	2004
Exeter	United Kingdom	2019^[23] ^[24]
Gothenburg	Sweden	2021^[25]
Granada	Spain	2014^[26]
Heidelberg	Germany	2014^[27]
Hobart	Australia	2023
Iași	Romania	2023
Iowa City	United States	2008^[28]
Jakarta	Indonesia	2021
Kozhikode	India	2023
Kraków	Poland	2013^[29]
Kuhmo	Finland	2019
Kutaisi	Georgia	2023
Lahore	Pakistan	2019
Leeuwarden	Netherlands	2019^[30]
Lillehammer	Norway	2017^[31]
Ljubljana	Slovenia	2015^[32]
Lviv	Ukraine	2015^[33]
Lyon	France	2023
Manchester	United Kingdom	2017^[34]
Melbourne	Australia	2008^[35]
Milan	Italy	2017^[36]
Montevideo	Uruguay	2015^[37]
Nanjing	China	2019
Norwich	United Kingdom	2012^[38]
Nottingham	United Kingdom	2015^[39]
Óbidos	Portugal	2015^[40]
Odesa	Ukraine	2019^[41]
Okayama	Japan	2023
Prague	Czech Republic	2014
Québec City	Canada	2017^[42]
Reykjavík	Iceland	2011^[43]
Rio de Janeiro	Brazil	2023
Seattle	United States	2017^[44]
Sulaymaniyah	Iraq	2019
Taif	Saudi Arabia	2023
Tartu	Estonia	2015^[45]
Tukums	Latvia	2023
Ulyanovsk		2015^[46]
Utrecht	Netherlands	2017^[47]
Vilnius	Lithuania	2021^[48]
Wonju		2019
Wrocław	Poland	2019

See also

• Creative Cities Network
• City of Crafts and Folk Arts
• City of Music
• City of Film
• Design Cities
• City of Gastronomy
• City of Media Arts

External links

• UNESCO Cities of Literature Website
• Creative Cities Map, UNESCO

Notes and References

1. Web site: UNESCO Creative Cities Network . https://web.archive.org/web/20150828062519/http://en.unesco.org/creative-cities/content/about-us . 28 August 2015 . 4 July 2024.
2. Web site: Literature . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130722102205/http://www.unesco.org/new/en/culture/themes/creativity/creative-cities-network/literature/ . 22 July 2013 . 4 July 2024 . UNESCO - Creative Cities Network.
3. Web site: Edinburgh Crowned the Capital of Literature. TheGuardian.com.
4. Web site: Edinburgh . 5 July 2024.
5. Web site: Knjižnica pod krošnjami. Knjižnica pod krošnjami.
6. Web site: University . Manchester Metropolitan . Story, Manchester Metropolitan University . https://web.archive.org/web/20171122043741/https://www.mmu.ac.uk/news-and-events/news/story/6551/ . 22 November 2017 . 4 July 2024 . Manchester Metropolitan University.
7. Web site: Prague . https://web.archive.org/web/20150919235647/https://en.unesco.org/creative-cities/prague . 19 September 2015 . 4 July 2024.
8. Web site: Ten Stunning Italian Libraries . https://web.archive.org/web/20160721080945/https://www.italianways.com/ten-stunning-italian-libraries . 21 July 2016 . 4 July 2024.
9. Web site: 8 Most Beautiful Libraries In Germany. 27 May 2016. Culture Trip.
10. Web site: 5 Libraries In Dublin Every Bibliophile Should Visit. 20 October 2015. Culture Trip.
11. Web site: Dunedin travel. Lonely Planet.
12. Web site: Durban travel. Lonely Planet.
13. Web site: Montevideo travel. Lonely Planet.
14. Web site: Québec City travel. Lonely Planet.
15. Web site: UNESCO designates 66 new Creative Cities.
16. Web site: Baghdad . 5 July 2024.
17. Web site: Barcelona . 5 July 2024.
18. Web site: 55 new cities join the UNESCO Creative Cities Network on World Cities Day. 31 October 2023.
19. Web site: Bucheon . 5 July 2024.
20. Web site: Dublin . 5 July 2024.
21. Web site: Dunedin . 5 July 2024.
22. Web site: Durban . 5 July 2024.
23. Web site: Exeter - only UK city to be awarded UNESCO City of Literature status. news.exeter.gov.uk.
24. Web site: Exeter . 5 July 2024 . unesco.org.
25. Web site: 49 new cities join UNESCO's Creative Cities Network. 11 November 2021. Cities of Design Network.
26. Web site: Granada . 5 July 2024 . unesco.org.
27. Web site: Heidelberg . 5 July 2024 . unesco.org.
28. Web site: Iowa City . 5 July 2024 . unesco.org.
29. Web site: Kraków . 5 July 2024 . unesco.org.
30. Web site: Leeuwarden . 5 July 2024 . unesco.org.
31. Web site: Lillehammer . 5 July 2024 . unesco.org.
32. Web site: Ljubljana . 5 July 2024 . unesco.org.
33. Web site: Lviv . 5 July 2024 . unesco.org.
34. Web site: Manchester . 5 July 2024 . unesco.org.
35. Web site: Melbourne . 5 July 2024 . unesco.org.
36. Web site: Milan . 5 July 2024 . unesco.org.
37. Web site: Montevideo . 5 July 2024 . unesco.org.
38. Web site: Norwich . 5 July 2024 . unesco.org.
39. Web site: Nottingham . 5 July 2024 . unesco.org.
40. Web site: Óbidos . 5 July 2024 . unesco.org.
41. Web site: Odessa . 5 July 2024 . unesco.org.
42. Web site: Québec City . 5 July 2024 . unesco.org.
43. Web site: Reykjavík . 5 July 2024 . unesco.org.
44. Web site: Seattle . 5 July 2024 . unesco.org.
45. Web site: Tartu . 5 July 2024 . unesco.org.
46. Web site: Ulyanovsk . 5 July 2024 . unesco.org.
47. Web site: Utrecht . 5 July 2024 . unesco.org.
48. Web site: Vilnius . 5 July 2024 . unesco.org.