CITIES OF LITERATURE

Read about who we are and our values.

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Looking to apply?

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We love the work that we do and the international collaborations that the Creative Cities Network makes possible, and we actively encourage new cities to think about applying. We are particularly interested in forging links with countries or regions that aren’t currently represented.

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We welcome enquiries from any offices that would like to explore the possibility of applying in the future. We can work with you in an advisory capacity throughout your application process, engaging with you in a practical way and helping you to understand the network. In fact, we recommend all cities to go through this process, to ensure that their application contains what we consider to be all the criteria for success. The following document outlines what we feel to be the most important performance indicators, and what we can contribute during what we hope will be a time of exciting change and development for your city.

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For further details, please contact the Chair of the Cities of Literature subgroup, Kjartan Már Ómarsson at Kjartan.Mar.Omarsson@reykjavik.is.

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Mentoring

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We are prepared to ‘mentor’ applicant cities, with a representative from the group consulting with you via phone, video call and email as you develop your applications. This mentoring could cover practical advice on budgets, service level agreements, effective approaches to programming and communications, as well as strategic guidance, partnership brokering, etc.

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If you are interested in joining such a “buddy system”, please contact our Cities of Literature Chair, Kjartan Már Ómarsson at Kjartan.Mar.Omarsson@reykjavik.is.

 

Communication and Partnerships

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Partnership working is absolutely vital: a City of Literature office’s work goes further and deeper when it harnesses effective partnerships of creative organizations such as literature development agencies, literature houses, booksellers, publishers, festivals, venues and universities, their networks stretching into the private sector, civil society, government and academia. As UNESCO states, the current importance and dynamism of the cultural sector, and particularly the creative field concerned, in the city’s development should be demonstrated in the design and preparation of the application.

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How to move ahead

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All this work is underpinned by a budget and funding strategy. Before committing to the process of applying for the UNESCO designation, your city needs to establish finance and backing for the programme, and an office or a coordinating institution to take this on. Financing and running a UNESCO designated city varies from city to city. Your city's management model will depend on local cultural infrastructure, partnerships, and funding opportunities. We can share business and operational models of existing practices that can help find the best solution for your city.

 

Cities of Literature need to be able to spend their budget in local, international, cross-sectorial and joint projects, and as such fundraising, reporting and evaluation to stakeholders are at the heart of sustainability for many city members of the network. We’re all having to demonstrate impact, introduce measures of success and put accountability systems in place to our funders.

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As well as well-developed mechanisms for creating, producing and promoting literature, it’s also important to demonstrate that your city actively engages people in cultural life, and particularly for marginalized or vulnerable groups. As well as excellence and breadth of art form, we want to hear about the social and political concerns that motivate your work. The Cities of Literature group includes representatives from organisations that specialise in freedom of speech, cultural diversity, programming for young people, engaging communities and other socially motivated aspects of literature development. If you are grappling with pressing social problems or targeting specific forms of deprivation in your city and region, we may be able to assist in unexpected ways.

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Freedom of Speech

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Working with writers internationally, we are often asked about freedom of speech. It is our belief that dialogue and channels of communication can support writers in their work. Your writers inevitably want to be part of a wider world, and becoming a City of Literature is one way of encouraging this.

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Resourcing the Network

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The sustainability of the Cities of Literature network is entirely dependent on the collaborative efforts of its members, and we are anxious to ensure that applications demonstrate capacity for this. A poll of Cities of Literature representatives in 2017 estimated that half a day to a day per week’s labour, reporting directly to the Subgroup, is the minimum expectation. This might be spent in publicising the network locally and internationally, taking part in Working Groups at the request of the Subgroup chair, assessing new applications to the network, commenting on UCCN strategic papers, developing collaborative projects with partner cities in the network, etc. The salary and office resource for this need to be paid for locally, along with the costs of a city representative attending at least one international meeting per year.

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Next Steps

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In advance of your application, we encourage you communicate with us actively. And feel free to come and visit us, too! Tell us about what you do and explore how we might collaborate. The assessment will consider whether applicants have made contact with members, with whom and how substantive that contact was. This is another integral criteria.

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Letters of Support

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Collectively, our position is that we don’t issue letters of support for a city, but we do encourage you to develop meaningful relationships with other cities of literature. We need to believe that you have the credentials and commitment to be a City of Literature. We do not sign contracts or any other binding agreements with applicant cities. Please note that letters of support are not required for the UCCN application.

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Checklist

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UNESCO’s ambition is for a global network of several hundred cities to fuel research into concepts like the creative economy, cultural tourism, city diplomacy and sustainable urban development. We hope that these notes have provided a vision of how our expansion and collaboration feed into this longer-term plan. Remember, you can never stop being a City of Literature!

On your road to submitting an application, here are some steps we think you should consider.

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• Contact the Chair of the Cities of Literature and express your interest in applying

• Review the websites and social media pages of all the existing members to find out more about their projects and programmes – www.citiesoflit.com

• Read the applications written by the members and observe what they emphasized

• Consult with the Chair of the Cities of Literature on the values and priorities of the sub-network

• Contact the Cities of Literature to inquire about their experiences in the network

• Prepare an answer to the question, “Why are we bidding?” and “10 Things to Know

• About...[Insert Your City of Literature Name]”. This is your ‘elevator pitch’, your key message to communicate your politicians, newspapers, etc.

• Speak to your National Commission as soon as possible to discuss your potential bid

• Hold public meetings with stakeholders and the public in order to gather feedback about the needs of the literary sector and how the accreditation can help the sector

• Educate your stakeholders about the accreditation. Draw attention to the fact that it is not a prize, but an obligation and long-term commitment to improving the well-being of the city through creativity, and specifically literature