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City of Literature

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The Portico LibraryinManchester
TheState Library VictoriainMelbourne

UNESCO'sCity of Literatureprogramme is part of the widerCreative Cities Network.

TheNetworkwas 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,andMusic.[1]

Criteria

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To be approved as a City of Literature, cities need to meet a number of criteria set byUNESCO.[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

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Heidelberg University Library
Braidense National LibraryinMilan

In 2004,Edinburghbecame the first literary city. It hosts the annualInternational Book Festivaland has its ownpoet laureate—theMakar.[3][4]

Ljubljanaruns theirLibrary Under the Treetopsat various locations across the city, includingTivoli City ParkandZvezda Park.These sites offer a selection of book genres and several domestic and foreign newspapers and magazines.[5]

Manchesteris home to the "world-class"Central Libraryand the "historic gems" ofThe Portico,John Rylands,andChetham's.[6]

Melbourne'sis home to Australia's oldest public libraryState Library of Victoria,the Centre of Books, Writing and IdeasThe Wheeler Centreand was home to the world's biggest book shopCole's Book Arcade,opened at the turn of the twentieth century.

Prague's"great intellectual and creative resources," includes thebook design,illustration,typography,andgraphic designfields. It also has theNational Library of the Czech Republicamong over 200 libraries, one of Europe's highest concentrations of bookshops, and thePrague Writers' Festival.[7]

Libraries in other literary cities, include:Braidense National LibraryinMilan,Heidelberg University Library,and theNational Library of IrelandinDublin.[8][9][10]

Dunedinis the "Edinburgh of the South", and home to New Zealand's oldest university.Durbanis "fun-loving."[11][12]

Montevideois a "vibrant, eclectic place" andQuébec Cityis a "gorgeous, seductive place."[13][14]

Cities of Literature

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TheNational LibraryinPrague
TheNational LibraryinDublin
John Rylands LibraryinManchester
Aracatacatrain station, in Colombia, is one of the settings of a Gabriel García Márquez novel.

11 countries have multiple Cities of Literature; 10 of them have two, while the United Kingdom 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

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References

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  1. ^"UNESCO Creative Cities Network".Archived fromthe originalon 28 August 2015.Retrieved4 July2024.
  2. ^"Literature".UNESCO - Creative Cities Network.Archived fromthe originalon 22 July 2013.Retrieved4 July2024.
  3. ^"Edinburgh Crowned the Capital of Literature".TheGuardian.com.
  4. ^ab"Edinburgh".Retrieved5 July2024.
  5. ^"Knjižnica pod krošnjami".Knjižnica pod krošnjami.
  6. ^University, Manchester Metropolitan."Story, Manchester Metropolitan University".Manchester Metropolitan University.Archived fromthe originalon 22 November 2017.Retrieved4 July2024.
  7. ^ab"Prague".Archived fromthe originalon 19 September 2015.Retrieved4 July2024.
  8. ^"Ten Stunning Italian Libraries".Archived fromthe originalon 21 July 2016.Retrieved4 July2024.
  9. ^"8 Most Beautiful Libraries In Germany".Culture Trip.27 May 2016.
  10. ^"5 Libraries In Dublin Every Bibliophile Should Visit".Culture Trip.20 October 2015.
  11. ^"Dunedin travel".Lonely Planet.
  12. ^"Durban travel".Lonely Planet.
  13. ^"Montevideo travel".Lonely Planet.
  14. ^"Québec City travel".Lonely Planet.
  15. ^abcdefghi"UNESCO designates 66 new Creative Cities".
  16. ^"Baghdad".Retrieved5 July2024.
  17. ^"Barcelona".Retrieved5 July2024.
  18. ^abcdefghijk"55 new cities join the UNESCO Creative Cities Network on World Cities Day".Retrieved31 October2023.
  19. ^"Bucheon".Retrieved5 July2024.
  20. ^"Dublin".Retrieved5 July2024.
  21. ^"Dunedin".Retrieved5 July2024.
  22. ^"Durban".Retrieved5 July2024.
  23. ^"Exeter - only UK city to be awarded UNESCO City of Literature status".news.exeter.gov.uk.
  24. ^"Exeter".unesco.org.Retrieved5 July2024.
  25. ^ab"49 new cities join UNESCO's Creative Cities Network".Cities of Design Network.11 November 2021.
  26. ^"Granada".unesco.org.Retrieved5 July2024.
  27. ^"Heidelberg".unesco.org.Retrieved5 July2024.
  28. ^"Iowa City".unesco.org.Retrieved5 July2024.
  29. ^"Kraków".unesco.org.Retrieved5 July2024.
  30. ^"Leeuwarden".unesco.org.Retrieved5 July2024.
  31. ^"Lillehammer".unesco.org.Retrieved5 July2024.
  32. ^"Ljubljana".unesco.org.Retrieved5 July2024.
  33. ^"Lviv".unesco.org.Retrieved5 July2024.
  34. ^"Manchester".unesco.org.Retrieved5 July2024.
  35. ^"Melbourne".unesco.org.Retrieved5 July2024.
  36. ^"Milan".unesco.org.Retrieved5 July2024.
  37. ^"Montevideo".unesco.org.Retrieved5 July2024.
  38. ^"Norwich".unesco.org.Retrieved5 July2024.
  39. ^"Nottingham".unesco.org.Retrieved5 July2024.
  40. ^"Óbidos".unesco.org.Retrieved5 July2024.
  41. ^"Odessa".unesco.org.Retrieved5 July2024.
  42. ^"Québec City".unesco.org.Retrieved5 July2024.
  43. ^"Reykjavík".unesco.org.Retrieved5 July2024.
  44. ^"Seattle".unesco.org.Retrieved5 July2024.
  45. ^"Tartu".unesco.org.Retrieved5 July2024.
  46. ^"Ulyanovsk".unesco.org.Retrieved5 July2024.
  47. ^"Utrecht".unesco.org.Retrieved5 July2024.
  48. ^"Vilnius".unesco.org.Retrieved5 July2024.
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