UNESCO has announced the designation of 55 new Cities in total across seven artforms to join its Creative Cities Network, making for a total of 350 Creative Cities from over 100 countries worldwide.

Among these new Creative Cities, eleven have been designated in literature and join Norwich as UNESCO Creative Cities of Literature: Bremen (Germany); Buffalo (South Africa); Hobart (Australia); Iasi (Romania); Kozhikode (India); Kutaisi (Georgia); Okayama City (Japan); Rio de Janeiro (Brazil); Taif (Saudi Arabia); Tukums (Latvia) and Lyon (France).

There are now 53 designated Creative Cities of Literature from 39 countries across the globe.

The UNESCO Creative Cities of Literature extend a warm welcome to their new sibling Cities and look forward to collaborating to promote the power of literature for sustainable and inclusive societies.

John Kenyon, Executive Director, Iowa City UNESCO Creative City of Literature and Creative Cities of Literature Network Lead said:

‘The Cities of Literature have been working to diversify our network, and we are pleased to welcome so many cities from under-represented parts of the world. We are made stronger as we add new native languages, cultures, and perspectives to our family of cities, and look forward to working with the writers, editors, publishers, booksellers, librarians, and others in the literary sector of these new members.’

The UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) was created by UNESCO in 2004. It gathers Cities that have positioned culture and creativity as strategic enablers for the achievement of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Network recognises Cities from the seven creative fields of Craft and Folk Art, Design, Film, Gastronomy, Literature, Media Arts, and Music. Designated Creative Cities place creativity at the core of their development to enhance inclusivity, safety, and sustainability.

The Cities of Literature network has continued to grow and evolve since 2002, when Edinburgh worked with UNESCO to create the designation. In 2004, an Edinburgh delegation travelled to UNESCO’s Paris headquarters to present its submission. It was designated the same day, becoming the founding city of the Creative City Network and the world’s first UNESCO City of Literature.

Discover more about Norwich UNESCO City of Literature and the UNESCO City of Literature Network →