UNESCO Cities of Literature Network grows

UNESCO has made public the 55 new cities that have joined the Creative Cities Network. Of these 55, 11 correspond to Cities of Literature. These are: Bremen (Germany), Buffalo City (South Africa), Hobart (Australia), Iasi (Romania), Kozhikode (India), Kutaisi (Georgia), Lyon (France), Okayama City (Japan), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil), Taif (Saudi Arabia) and Tukums (Latvia). With the new members, the network has grown to 53 cities. Barcelona has been part of the network since 2015.

For all these municipalities, being part of the UNESCO Cities of Literature Network is a recognition of their commitment to place culture and creativity, and in this case literature, at the heart of their development plans and to share knowledge and best practices. The network has been expanding since 2004, when Edinburgh presented the project and became the founding city of the Creative Cities Network and the first UNESCO City of Literature in the world.

International activity has been growing year on year, offering writers and literary professionals opportunities to share their work internationally and develop their creative practice. Edinburgh has already announced that in October next year it will host a UNESCO City of Literature conference to mark the 20th anniversary of the network.

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