We are profoundly disappointed by the U.S. State Department’s announcement that the United States will once again withdraw from UNESCO.
When this happened in 2017, we reaffirmed our commitment to connecting the Iowa City community with the world through literature and the arts. We make that same commitment now.
At that time, Iowa City was one of just 20 Cities of Literature. Today, we are one of 53, part of a global Creative Cities Network that includes 350 cities across seven creative fields. This network continues to grow because the mission matters: connecting people, building understanding, and using culture to inspire meaningful, positive change.
Our city’s place in the global literary community has remained steadfast, regardless of the United States’ relationship with UNESCO. Rooted in the University of Iowa’s reputation as a destination for writers, Iowa City has long served as a haven for literary exchange. In 1967, Paul and Hualing Engle founded the International Writing Program at the University of Iowa, a bold idea, from the American heartland. Reflecting on that legacy, Paul Engle said:
“It was a crazy idea to bring poets to this little place. And yet, I felt it is imagination that brings all men together. It isn’t politics or economics or history. It’s the imagination. So, all writers of the world ought to come to Iowa City.”
We still believe this. And we also believe the people of Iowa should see the world, not just by traveling, but by encountering new perspectives in books, through authors, and via the global literary exchanges that our City of Literature status makes possible.
UNESCO’s founding mission in 1946 still resonates today:
“To contribute to peace and security by promoting collaboration among nations through education, science and culture in order to further universal respect for justice, the rule of law, and human rights and fundamental freedoms.”
Or as Engle put it:
“If you are reading poetry to each other, you are not fighting each other.”
So, while we lament the turn our country has taken toward isolationism and division, we also must celebrate the ways our community continues to champion the free exchange of ideas, the importance of open dialogue, and the belief that literature fosters understanding across borders.
Political winds may shift, but our values don’t. We will always be a City of Literature.
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