A digital exhibition of poetry and works of literature in languages on the UNESCO vulnerable and endangered list.

Manchester City of Literature are working with the team behind Voiced: The Festival of Endangered Languages to bring a celebration of endangered languages to Manchester in February 2026. As part of this Cities of Literature around the world have contributed poems and translations to an online exhibition.

As part of our ongoing work celebrating International Mother Language Day in Manchester, you can now scroll through contributions below to see poems and translations in 16 vulnerable languages including Lushootseed and Wendat where there are no longer any first-language speakers remaining.

These pieces are shared with huge thanks to the authors, translators and archives to draw attention to how precious languages are to strengthen culture and the protection they need to continue. Please note for the purposes of this exhibition the names of each language appear in English below for navigation purposes, due to limitations of digital technology some of the titles cannot be shown alongside original scripts, despite this we hope you enjoy reading each piece of work in the original script once you open each one.

Worldwide there are around 7000 languages in use, and many of these are indigenous. Sadly many languages are falling out of use, reflecting the vulnerable situation of traditional cultures worldwide. In 2019 UNESCO published the World Atlas of Languages, and uses a system of vitality status which is shown against each language in our exhibition pages.

“Disappearing language is a cause for serious concern that no less than 40% of some 6700 languages spoken nowadays are in danger of disappearing, according to the UNESCO Atlas of Languages in Danger” – UNESCO

In 2022 UNESCO marked a Decade of Indigenous Languages to draw global attention to the critical situation of many indigenous languages.