Manchester is currently one of 53 designated Creative Cities of Literature across the globe – we’re delighted to share that 10 more cities will be joining the family.

Last week, UNESCO announced the designation of 58 new Creative Cities in total across eight different art forms. This means there are now 408 Creative Cities in the global network as a whole, from over 100 countries.

10 of these 58 new cities have been designated as Cities of Literature. These are: Aberystwyth (Wales); Abuja (Nigeria); Celje (Slovenia); Conakry (Guinea); Dumaguete City (Philippines); Gdańsk (Poland); Kahramanmaraş (Türkiye); Lund (Sweden); San Luis Potosi (Mexico); and Tangier (Morocco).

Our warmest welcome and congratulations to all of the new cities. We look forward to working together to celebrate and platform the power of literature.

Kjartan Már Ómarsson, Program Manager of Reykjavík UNESCO City of Literature and Creative Cities of Literature Network Lead says:

“We warmly welcome the new Cities of Literature to our global network. Their creativity, diversity, and commitment to the written word will strengthen our collective mission to place culture and storytelling at the heart of sustainable and inclusive urban development.”