The 53 designated Creative Cities of Literature from 39 countries across the globe welcome 10 additional Cities of Literature to their literary family.
UNESCO announced the designation of 58 new Creative Cities in total across eight artforms to join its Creative Cities Network, making for a total of 408 Creative Cities from more than 100 countries worldwide. The designations were announced on Oct. 31, which is World Cities Day.
Among these new Creative Cities, 10 have been designated in Literature: Aberystwyth (Wales); Abuja (Nigeria); Celje (Slovenia); Conakry (Guinea); Dumaguete City (Philippines); Gdańsk (Poland); Kahramanmaraş (Türkiye); Lund (Sweden); San Luis Potosi (Mexico); and Tangier (Morocco). That brings the number of Cities of Literature to 63.
Kjartan Már Ómarsson, program manager of Reykjavík UNESCO City of Literature and Cities of Literature subnetwork coordinator, said the cities’ “creativity, diversity, and commitment to the written word will strengthen our collective mission to place culture and storytelling at the heart of sustainable and inclusive urban development.”
Among the cities named to the overall Creative Cities Network was New Orleans, which was designated as a UNESCO City of Music. It is the first U.S. city to join the network since 2017. A city cannot join the network unless its country is a UNESCO member. New Orleans was able to apply in the window between withdrawals by the Trump administrations.
John Kenyon, executive director of the Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature organization, said this year’s designated cities add some needed diversity to the network.
“As we continue to better populate the globe with Cities of Literature, we add new languages, new cultures, and new ways of celebrating literature,” he said. “This will help all of us as we seek ways to elevate our literary sectors and share the work of our creatives with the world.”
UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network was established in 2004 with the aim of fostering collaboration among cities that recognize creativity as a crucial element in achieving sustainable urban development. Iowa City was designated as the third City of Literature in the world in 2008.
The Network encompasses eight creative fields: Architecture, Crafts and Folk Art, Design, Film, Gastronomy, Literature, Media Arts, and Music. Architecture is a new field added to the network this year.
