Twenty years ago, Edinburgh was designated the first UNESCO City of Literature. 53 cities, 34 countries, and 6 continents later, the city is preparing to celebrate two decades of helping the literary sectors of the local community thrive.
Edinburgh was the first city to be designated UNESCO City of Literature status in 2004, but all Cities of Literature must share similar characteristics such as having a diverse publishing industry, hosting literary events and festivals, and being home to libraries, bookshops and cultural centres which promote and share literature. As a City of Literature, Edinburgh strives to uplift and promote all involved in local literary spheres. Over the past two decades, the city has completed projects to grant international residencies to writers, commissioned work for local creatives, and even worked with Visit Scotland to create the world’s first UNESCO Trail, bringing to light Scotland’s iconic culturally diverse sites while bridging the cities of Glasgow, Edinburgh, and Dundee with Orkney among many other locations.
Taking a look at Edinburgh’s history, it is no surprise that the Scottish capital was chosen as the first City of Literature. Walter Scott, Muriel Spark, Arthur Conan Doyle, and Robert Louis Stevenson are only a tiny handful of the authors that the city has produced. Not only the birthplace of many writers, the world’s first ever circulating library has its origins in Edinburgh, when Allan Ramsay opened his in 1725. Edinburgh’s cultural significance in the literary world has only grown since, with the Edinburgh International Book Festival, one of the largest in the world, attracting more than 100,000 visitors to the city every year since the first in 1983. This year, the festival hosted over 800 authors, among the likes of which were Dolly Alderton, Richard Ayoade, and Irvine Welsh.
This October, Edinburgh will host the Cities of Literature Conference, bringing it ‘home’ to celebrate the 20th anniversary of being a literary city. Over 60 representatives from UNESCO’s global network will travel to Edinburgh to bring literary professionals together to celebrate the literary events of the past 20 years and plan ahead for the next. The conference will be working with the University of Edinburgh and Edinburgh Napier University to host some events and celebrate Scottish literature.
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