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City of Literature

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

The Portico Library in Manchester
The State Library Victoria in Melbourne

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

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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

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Heidelberg University Library
 
Braidense National Library in Milan

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

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The National Library in Prague
 
The National Library in Dublin
 
John Rylands Library in Manchester
 
Aracataca train 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 from the original on 28 August 2015. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
  2. ^ "Literature". UNESCO - Creative Cities Network. Archived from the original on 22 July 2013. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
  3. ^ "Edinburgh Crowned the Capital of Literature". TheGuardian.com.
  4. ^ a b "Edinburgh". Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  5. ^ "Knjižnica pod krošnjami". Knjižnica pod krošnjami.
  6. ^ University, Manchester Metropolitan. "Story, Manchester Metropolitan University". Manchester Metropolitan University. Archived from the original on 22 November 2017. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
  7. ^ a b "Prague". Archived from the original on 19 September 2015. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
  8. ^ "Ten Stunning Italian Libraries". Archived from the original on 21 July 2016. Retrieved 4 July 2024.
  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. ^ a b c d e f g h i "UNESCO designates 66 new Creative Cities".
  16. ^ "Baghdad". Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  17. ^ "Barcelona". Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  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". Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  20. ^ "Dublin". Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  21. ^ "Dunedin". Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  22. ^ "Durban". Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  23. ^ "Exeter - only UK city to be awarded UNESCO City of Literature status". news.exeter.gov.uk.
  24. ^ "Exeter". unesco.org. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  25. ^ a b "49 new cities join UNESCO's Creative Cities Network". Cities of Design Network. 11 November 2021.
  26. ^ "Granada". unesco.org. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  27. ^ "Heidelberg". unesco.org. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  28. ^ "Iowa City". unesco.org. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  29. ^ "Kraków". unesco.org. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  30. ^ "Leeuwarden". unesco.org. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  31. ^ "Lillehammer". unesco.org. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  32. ^ "Ljubljana". unesco.org. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  33. ^ "Lviv". unesco.org. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  34. ^ "Manchester". unesco.org. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  35. ^ "Melbourne". unesco.org. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  36. ^ "Milan". unesco.org. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  37. ^ "Montevideo". unesco.org. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  38. ^ "Norwich". unesco.org. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  39. ^ "Nottingham". unesco.org. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  40. ^ "Óbidos". unesco.org. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  41. ^ "Odessa". unesco.org. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  42. ^ "Québec City". unesco.org. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  43. ^ "Reykjavík". unesco.org. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  44. ^ "Seattle". unesco.org. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  45. ^ "Tartu". unesco.org. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  46. ^ "Ulyanovsk". unesco.org. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  47. ^ "Utrecht". unesco.org. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  48. ^ "Vilnius". unesco.org. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
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