UNESCO Cities of Literature join forces to mark International Mother Language Day

The UNESCO Creative Cities of Literature are collaborating to deliver a global programme of events and initiatives centred around UNESCO’s International Mother Language Day (IMLD), which is celebrated on 21st February. This work is led by Manchester City of Literature, known as the ‘UK’s language capital’ with over 200 languages spoken.

The network’s main IMLD initiative is a collaborative project called ‘Words from the Childhood Home’. Coordinated by Manchester City of Literature, it is a multilingual chain poem written by nominated poets representing UNESCO Cities of Literature. Anjum Malik, a Manchester-based poet who writes in Urdu and English, began the poem with a four-line stanza on the theme of ‘the childhood home’. Each following poet was then asked to respond to the previous stanza in their mother tongue, with a translation into English. Representing 9 UNESCO Cities of Literature (Dunedin, Edinburgh, Heidelberg, Lviv, Manchester, Melbourne, Montevideo, Nottingham and Tartu), the completed poem will be exhibited in Manchester from February 20th.

IMLD has been observed globally since 2000 and has important historical roots. In Bangladesh, 21st February is the anniversary of the day when Bangladeshis fought for recognition for the Bangla language. More information, here.