International

The UNESCO Creative Cities Network

The UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) was created in 2004 to promote cooperation with and among cities that have identified creativity as a strategic factor for sustainable urban development. The Network contains seven creative fields: literature; crafts and folk art; design; film; gastronomy; media arts and music. Reykjavík has been a UNESCO City of Literature since 2011.

The UCCN is a growing network with new cities being designated every two years. The title is a permanent one, as long as the designated cities stay active within the network.
For more information, have a look at the UCCN Mission Statement or visit the UNESCO Creative Cities website.

Cities of Literature 

listed in order of designation:

• 2004 Edinborg
• 2008 Iowa City
• 2008 Melbourne
• 2010 Dublin
• 2011 Reykjavík
• 2012 Norwich
  2013 Kraká
• 2014 Dunedin, Granada, Heidelberg og Prag
• 2015 Baghdad, Barcelona, Ljubljana, Lviv, Montevideo, Nottingham, Óbidos, Tartu og Ulyanovsk
• 2017 Bucheon, Durban, Lillehammer, Manchester, Milano, Qubec City, Seattle og Utrecht
• 2019 Angouleme, Beirut, Exeter, Kuhmo, Lahore, Leeuwarden, Nanjing, Odessa, Slemani, Wonju og Wrocław

At the UNESCO Cities of Literature website (citiesoflit.com) you can find information on literature residencise, Literature Cities and joint projects. Informations for the media and new Literature Cities. 

Cities submit bids to UNESCO to be designated a City of Literature. The designations are monitored and reviewed every four years by UNESCO.