City of Literature

Summary

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 Art, Design, Film, Gastronomy, Media Arts, and Music.[1]

Criteria for Cities of Literature edit

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 edit

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 edit

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 and South America is represented by two cities each, while Africa is to have one designated city.

 
Aracataca train station, in Colombia, one of the settings of a Gabriel García Márquez novel.

Eight 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[15]
Bremen   Germany 2023[18]
Bucheon   Korea Republic 2017[19]
Buffalo City   South Africa 2023[18]
Dublin   Ireland 2010[20]
Dunedin   New Zealand 2014[21]
Durban   South Africa 2017[22]
Edinburgh   United Kingdom 2004[4]
Exeter   United Kingdom 2019[23][24][15]
Gothenburg   Sweden 2021[25]
Granada   Spain 2014[26]
Heidelberg   Germany 2014[27]
Hobart   Australia 2023[18]
Iași   Romania 2023[18]
Iowa City   United States 2008[28]
Jakarta   Indonesia 2021[25]
Kozhikode   India 2023[18]
Kraków   Poland 2013[29]
Kuhmo   Finland 2019[15]
Kutaisi   Georgia 2023[18]
Lahore   Pakistan 2019[15]
Leeuwarden   Netherlands 2019[30]
Lillehammer   Norway 2017[31]
Ljubljana   Slovenia 2015[32]
Lviv   Ukraine 2015[33]
Lyon   France 2023[18]
Manchester   United Kingdom 2017[34]
Melbourne   Australia 2008[35]
Milan   Italy 2017[36]
Montevideo   Uruguay 2015[37]
Nanjing   China 2019[15]
Norwich   United Kingdom 2012[38]
Nottingham   United Kingdom 2015[39]
Óbidos   Portugal 2015[40]
Odesa   Ukraine 2019[41]
Okayama   Japan 2023[18]
Prague   Czech Republic 2014[7]
Québec City   Canada 2017[42]
Reykjavík   Iceland 2011[43]
Rio de Janeiro   Brazil 2023[18]
Seattle   United States 2017[44]
Sulaymaniyah   Iraq 2019[15]
Taif   Saudi Arabia 2023[18]
Tartu   Estonia 2015[45]
Tukums   Latvia 2023[18]
Ulyanovsk   Russia 2015[46]
Utrecht   Netherlands 2017[47]
Vilnius   Lithuania 2021[48]
Wonju   South Korea 2019[15]
Wrocław   Poland 2019[15]

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "UNESCO Creative Cities Network".
  2. ^ Do you have what it takes to be a City of Literature?
  3. ^ "Edinburgh Crowned the Capital of Literature". TheGuardian.com.
  4. ^ a b "Edinburgh".
  5. ^ "Library Under the Treetops".
  6. ^ "Manchester Named as a UNESCO City of Literature".
  7. ^ a b "Prague".
  8. ^ "Ten Stunning Italian Libraries".
  9. ^ "Eight Most Beautiful Libraries in Germany".
  10. ^ "Five Libraries in Dublin Every Bibliophile Should Visit".
  11. ^ "Dunedin".
  12. ^ "Durban".
  13. ^ "Montevideo".
  14. ^ "Québec City".
  15. ^ a b c d e f g h i "UNESCO designates 66 new Creative Cities".
  16. ^ "Baghdad".
  17. ^ "Barcelona".
  18. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "55 new cities join the UNESCO Creative Cities Network on World Cities Day". Retrieved 31 October 2023.
  19. ^ "Bucheon".
  20. ^ "Dublin".
  21. ^ "Dunedin".
  22. ^ "Durban".
  23. ^ "Exeter".
  24. ^ "Exeter Unesco".
  25. ^ a b "49 new cities join UNESCO's Creative Cities Network".
  26. ^ "Granada".
  27. ^ "Heidelberg".
  28. ^ "Iowa City".
  29. ^ "Kraków".
  30. ^ "Leeuwarden".
  31. ^ "Lillehammer".
  32. ^ "Ljubljana".
  33. ^ "Lviv".
  34. ^ "Manchester".
  35. ^ "Melbourne".
  36. ^ "Milan".
  37. ^ "Montevideo".
  38. ^ "Norwich".
  39. ^ "Nottingham".
  40. ^ "Óbidos".
  41. ^ "Odesa".
  42. ^ "Québec City".
  43. ^ "Reykjavík".
  44. ^ "Seattle".
  45. ^ "Tartu".
  46. ^ "Ulyanovsk".
  47. ^ "Utrecht".
  48. ^ "Vilnius".

External links edit

  • UNESCO Cities of Literature Website
  • Creative Cities Map, UNESCO
  • Edinburgh City of Literature
  • Melbourne City of Literature
  • Iowa City City of Literature
  • Dublin City of Literature
  • Reykjavík City of Literature
  • National Centre for Writing, Norwich
  • Kraków City of Literature
  • Heidelberg City of Literature
  • Dunedin City of Literature
  • Granada City of Literature
  • Prague City of Literature
  • Barcelona City of Literature
  • Leeuwarden City of Literature
  • Lillehammer City of Literature
  • Ljubljana City of Literature
  • Lviv City of Literature
  • Nottingham City of Literature
  • Óbidos Vila Literária
  • Seattle City of Literature
  • Tartu City of Literature
  • Ulyanovsk City of Literature
  • Utrecht City of Literature
  • Bucheon City of Literature
  • Exeter City of Literature
  • Vilnius City of Literature
  • Gothenburg City of Literature
  • Kuhmo City of Literature
  • Slemani City of Literature