This month marks the twenty year anniversary of Edinburgh becoming the world’s first UNESCO City of Literature
On 13 October 2004, Edinburgh was designated the world’s first UNESCO City of Literature, a permanent title celebrating Edinburgh’s status as a literary capital and pioneer in the UNESCO Creative Cities network, which now has 350 member cities.
The concept of a City of Literature was devised in Edinburgh by the Trust’s founding members Jenny Brown OBE, Catherine Lockerbie, James Boyle and Lorraine Fannin, trailblazing the way – there are now 53 UNESCO Cities of Literature across the world.
To mark the occasion, over 60 representatives from Cities of Literature destinations across the global network will come to Edinburgh in October (21-25 Oct 2024) for a four-day conference to mark the achievements of the past two decades and to make plans for the future – ensuring that Edinburgh continues to stay firmly on the literary map.
Gerald Richards Interim Chair for Edinburgh City of Literature Trust, said: ‘The Edinburgh City of Literature Trust believes that literature in its broadest sense transforms lives, and that it is a true way to understand and celebrate ourselves, Edinburgh city and our nation.
“We will use the opportunity of hosting the UNESCO City of Literature conference to build new international programmes for Scottish writers, share best practice, develop new collaborative projects in the capital and it’s a great opportunity to celebrate Edinburgh’s vast cultural and literary output.’
As part of the four day international conference, newly appointed Edinburgh Makar, Michael Pedersen curated a public event with help from Dublin City of Literature and the Goethe Institut which has already sold out.
Edinburgh Makar, poet and author, Michael Pederson, said: “Edinburgh is a literary behemoth, bubbling up with lustre & lore – now, then and every epoch in-between. What a thrill to be made Makar at such a salient moment in its formidable history.
“I’ll be using my Makarship to ensure poetry remains within the heartbeat of this extraordinary, complicated, quirky, shapeshifter of a capital city, always punching above its weight. Here’s to its gothic splendour, here’s to this glorious work.’’
The Trust’s Words on the Street campaign (2016) saw a major public-private partnership which secured £25,000 for a community engagement project which included collaboration with international screenwriter, filmmaker and artist Terry Gilliam.
Over the last twenty years, The Trust has worked with more than 250 partners to deliver approximately 300 stand-alone and multi-session events and projects, reaching an audience of at least 325,000 and millions more through their on-street installations and online programmes.
The Trust’s Words on the Street in campaign saw a major public-private partnership which secured £25,000 for a community engagement project which included collaboration with international screenwriter, filmmaker and artist Terry Gilliam. A 10-metre long illuminated light installation featuring a quote selected by Gilliam and inspired by Miguel de Cervantes’ book Don Quixote was installed on Jeffrey Street in the heart of Edinburgh’s Old Town for 28 days.
In 2014, to mark the 10th anniversary of our UNESCO City of Literature designation, The Trust launched Great Scott! – Covering the floors, walls and windows of Edinburgh’s Waverley Station – the only railway station named after a novel. The public response to the installation was so positive that the station owners have preserved the installation, presenting that work daily to an annual footfall of 23 million people at the train station.
Great Scott! (2014)
Readers and writers across Scotland benefited from previous projects such as the formation of Robert Louis Stevenson Day, citywide reading initiatives and the Trust has also transformed public urban spaces with inscriptions of literary works as well as projections of poetry onto Edinburgh Castle rock.
Douglas Dunn quote projected onto Edinburgh Castle Rock, (2016)
The Trust collaborated with partners to publish the first Scots and Gaelic graphic novels and through reading campaigns, have given away over 93,000 free books through schools and community programmes.
The City of Literature Trust also worked with Visit Scotland to create the world’s first UNESCO trail, bringing together some of Scotland’s most iconic, diverse and culturally significant sites.This digital trail connects the 13 UNESCO sites, and is hosted on Visit Scotland’s website. It has won three awards, with over 75,000 active users of the microsite.
In 2022, Edinburgh City of Literature Trust partnered with the Scottish Storytelling Centre to run a series of cross-artform literary events. Figures of Speech brought together writers and artists that explored Scottish literature via six universal themes and also saw newly commissioned work by contemporary artists and writers.
Figures of Speech, (2022)
Other projects have ranged from international exchanges to local residencies; from one-off conferences to monthly literary salons; and from literary heritage promotions to community funds. The Trust also uses some of UNESCO’s key international days to raise the profile of aspects of Scotland’s literary activity to a global level.
Current projects include professional development programmes, creative commissions, international writer residencies and The Dr Gavin Wallace Fellowship offers mid-career and established writers time to develop creative work during a year-long residency.
Cllr Val Walker, Culture and Communities Convener at City of Edinburgh Council said: “It is exciting that it’s been two decades since Edinburgh was first given the title, City of Literature.
“It’s even more exciting to think where it will be two decades from now, as the network continues to grow. We are, as always, extremely proud of being the founding city of this international cohort of UNESCO Cities of Literature and look forward to continue working in partnership with Edinburgh City of Literature.”
Many organisations have marked the occasion with public shout-outs, book lists and collaborative projects such as the Scottish Book Trust’s Twenty Brilliant Edinburgh Novels which offers top twenty reads of Edinburgh novels across the years.
One Square, The Sheraton Grand Hotel & Spa’s award-winning bar and brasserie is running a unique Afternoon Literary Tea to mark Edinburgh City of Literature Trust’s milestone and the Scottish Storytelling Centre will also host their four-day conference as part of the Scottish International Storytelling Festival programme.
Edinburgh City of Literature Trust birthday also contributes to the on-going Edinburgh 900 celebrations; marking the 900 year anniversary of Edinburgh – a city-wide celebration of Edinburgh’s history, culture and future.
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