Granada, the first Spanish city to be recognized as a Literary City by UNESCO.
La Unesco started to build a Creative Cities Network in 2004, in which several categories are recognized: Literature, Cinema, Music, Crafts and Popular Art, Design, Digital Art and Gastronomy.
The criteria for selecting the Literary Cities they are related to the publishing history, educational programs and the number of libraries, bookstores and cultural centers in the city. Also literary festivals and citizen participation. Since then, in the literature category, it has awarded the award to 20 cities around the world and two are Spanish, Barcelona and Granada. Segovia is currently competing for the Award.
Edinburgh (Scotland)
Edinburgh was the first City of Literature of UNESCO in 2004. What does Edinburgh have to be a literary city? Writers of international relevance such as Walter Scott or Robert Louis Stevenson, the greatest International Book Festival through which more than 800 writers pass each year and the city has more than 50 bookstores.
Melbourne (Australia)
Melbourne was the second UNESCO City of Literature, in 2008, four years later. What does Melbourne have to be a literary city? A large network of libraries and bookstores, Australia's largest publishing network and four literary festivals: Melbourne Writers Festival, Overload Poetry Festival, Alfred Deakin Innovation Seminars and Emerging Writers Festival.
Iowa (USA)
What does Iowa have to be a literary city? It is the city where it was taught the first Master of Creative Writing of the world, in 1936. 25 of its writers have won the Pulitzer Prize since 1955. It hosts several renowned literary festivals and competitions and has a large network of bookstores.
Dublin (Ireland)
What does Dublin have to be a literary city? In addition to being the scene of the Ulises by James Joyce, celebrate the bloomsday an entire festival in his honor in which people dress up as characters from the novel. Besides Joyce, they're Dubliners Oscar Wilde, Bram Stoker, WB Yeats (Nobel Prize), Samuel Beckett, Jonathan Swift, Bernard Shaw (Nobel Prize), Samuel Beckett (Nobel Prize) or Seamus Heaney (Nobel Prize).
Reykjavik (Iceland)
What does Reykjavik have to be a literary city? Iceland is the country in the world that publishes more titles per capita and they feature Arnaldur Indridason, one of the top-selling contemporary crime novels.
Norwich (UK)
What does Norwich have to be a literary city? It is the UK's first city-refuge for threatened writers since 2007 and was a founding member of the International Network of Cities of Refuge (ICORN).
Juliana of Norwich (1342 - 1416) is the author of the first book in English written by a woman.
Krakow (Poland)
What does Krakow have to be a literary city? It is lthe city of the Polish Nobel Prize winners for literature, like Wislawa Szymborska and Czesław Miłosz.
In the city are some of the scriptoriums and the most famous libraries in the world. Various literature festivals such as the Miłosz Festival and Conrad Festival are held.
Dunedin (New Zealand)
Unknown city to many, what does Dunedin have to be a literary city? Su library was the first public and free library in the country. Dunedin has been home to many of New Zealand's most celebrated writers and poets as well as illustrators and children's book writers. In it are ancestral roots of the Kāi people, whose oral traditions they have been weaving legends and stories throughout the centuries. It is also the headquarters of the Book Center, a unique center in terms of the history of literature, printing and the investigation of new platforms and publishing models.
Heildelberg, germany
What's wrong with it heidelberg to be a literary city? Here the first university in Germany was born, The Ruperto Carola University. It has always been a center of learning and literature and has hosted famous writers such as Goethe, Clemens Brentano, Bettina von Arnim, and Friedrich Hölderlin. It was also the cradle of XNUMXth century German romanticism.
Granada (Spain)
Since 2014 Granada has been a literary city, the first Spanish to receive the award What does it have Grenada to be a literary city? To a writer of universal renown Federico García Lorca assassinated during the Franco regime for his homosexual condition and his left-wing ideology. Crowd and cultural events, including the Granada Noir festival that floods every corner of the city with different cultural displays, not just literary ones, directed by Jesús Lens.
Prague (Chekia)
What's wrong with it Prague to be a literary city? Famous authors like Franz Kafka, Max Bod, the Rainer Maria Rilke, or of course? Milan kundera. His university, Charles University is the oldest university in central Europe.
Ulyanovsk (Russia)
Known for being the city of Lenin's birth, what has Ulyanovsk to be a literary city? It is famous for being the city of the novelist Ivan Goncharov, creator Oblomov, a young and lazy aristocrat who spent the day in bed. In the city a literary festival ("Get up from the couch") is held in his honor. There are more than 30 bookstores, 39 public libraries, Ulyanovsk Regional Special Library, a free library at the airport and more than 200 school libraries.
Baghdad (Iraq)
Although it seems like a surprising choice at first, what does Baghdad to be a literary city? A past with great literary influence in the region, as Baghdad had one of the most important libraries of antiquity: Bayt al-Hikma founded in the XNUMXth century AD, which had the largest collection of books in the world in the middle of the XNUMXth century.
Birthplace of one of the great Arab poets, Abu Al Tayeb Al Mutanabbi (XNUMXth century).
Tartu (Estonia).
What's wrong with it Tartu to be a literary city? It is the city pioneer in the defense of the culture of the country and of Estonian as a language. Throughout the year different literary festivals are held. Two institutions promote Estonian studies and culture: the University of Tartu and the Estonian Literary Museum.
Lviv (Ukraine)
What's wrong with it Lviv to be a literary city? Many bookstores and libraries: 45 bookstores, 174 libraries and 54 museums and a very participative population in the cultural life of the city. His En Lvis is the oldest printing press (1586) still active.
Ljubljana (Slovenia).
What's wrong with it Ljubljana to be a literary city? On Ljubljana hosts more than 10.000 cultural events, musical, theatrical and artistic that include 14 international festivals. Each citizen visits the Municipal Library on average five times a year. Ljubljana is known for its university culture.
Barcelona, the Spanish city with the longest publishing tradition, named a Literary City by UNESCO.
Barcelona, Spain)
What's wrong with it Barcelona to be a literary city? Four literary festivals, including Barcelona Negra and a strong publishing history dating back to medieval times, host the headquarters of the largest publishing groups in the country. It has given rise to numerous and great authors such as Manuel Montalbán, Alicia Giménez-Barlett, creator of the first policewoman in the Spanish crime novel, Eduardo Mendoza, Ana María Matute, Carlos Ruiz Zafón, Mercé Rodoreda, Ildefonso Falcones or Víctor del Arbol, knight of French arts and letters, among others. It has more than 122 bookstores and a wide network of public libraries. Celebrate annually the day of Sant Jordi, a day on which it is tradition to give books and roses.
Nottingham (UK)
What does Nottingham have to be a literary city? In addition to being the cradle of Robin Hood, to writers such as Lord Byron or DH Lawrence. Also 18 libraries and many independent bookstores, in addition to the literary festival Nottingham Festival of Words.
Obidos (Portugal)
What does Óbidos have to be a literary city? Outside the usual tourist routes of Portugal, it is a literary gem, with bookstores created in the most unlikely places: The first was the Church of Santiago, with more than 40.000 books. From it, new bookstores were created in surprising spaces, such as in the market or in a winery.
Montevideo, Uruguay)
What does Montevideo have to be a literary city? Authors like Eduardo Galeano, Mario Benedetti or Juan Carlos Onetti. It has a huge Sunday book market: Tristán Narvaja.
Milano, Italy)
What does Milan have to be a literary city? Milan is one of the centers major publishers, some of which are historically important. City of residence of Darío Fo, Nobel Prize.
Bucheon (South Korea)
What does Bucheon have to be a literary city? Its literary tradition is linked to Byun yeongro and Chong Chi-yong, champions of the most important poetic movement of the first half of the XNUMXth century.
Québec (Canada)
What does Québec have to be a literary city? With a rich cultural life, his literature reflects his Francophone, Anglophone and Aboriginal heritage.
The Literary and Historical Society of Québec (1824) and the Canadian Institute of Québec (1848) play an essential role in the literary life of the country. It is the city where most of the publishing houses of the country reside.
Seattle (USA)
Known more for technology than literature, what has Seattle to be a literary city? Although its fame does not come from it, one of its greatest attractions is the bookstores and the number of publications and activities around reading.
Utrecht (Holland)
What's wrong with it Utrecht to be a literary city? In 1473 the first book of the Northern Netherlands was published, in 1516 it came to light the first collection of poetry written by a woman and in 1892 the kingdom's first public library was opened, among many other notable events.
Celebra between 20 and 30 literary events each month, involving children and adults and has 56 bookstores, 26 libraries and is home to more than 200 publishers.
Manchester, United Kingdom)
What's wrong with it Manchester to be a literary city? Manchester has five historical public libraries, interesting not only for their funds, but also for the buildings in which they are located. Its indisputable jewel is the John Rylands Library, from 1899, in the neo-Gothic style. A treasure for its stained glass windows and coffered ceiling, but, above all, for what it keeps inside: Egyptian papyri, Coptic or Greek books, medieval manuscripts, the edition of the Canterbury Tales (1476), the Gutenberg Bible (1455 ) or a curious book about the one meter high birds of America (1830).
Durban (South Africa)
What's wrong with it Durban to be a literary city? This city has hosted many writers, such as the first African Nobel winner, Alan Paton, or the poet Bessie Head. Important literature festivals such as Poetry Africa are held here.
Lillehammer (Norway)
What's wrong with it Lillehammer to be a literary city? With only 27.000 inhabitants, in the XNUMXth century, it became a hub for painters and writers, some of them Nobel Prize Winners for Literature such as Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson and Sigrid Undset.
We wish All the best to the Segovian initiative so that Segovia is the next to join the list.