Huge congratulations to Marie-Aude Murail and Suzy Lee on winning one of the world’s most distinguished honors for children’s books and illustrations. Beyond thrilled that South Korean children’s book illustrator Suzy Lee won the 2022 Hans Christian Andersen illustrator Award! Born in 1974, Lee has written and illustrated a number of children's books, including critically acclaimed "Wave" and "Shadow" in the United States, both of which were selected as the New York Times Best Illustrated Children's Book in 2008 and 2010, respectively. Last month, her latest book "Summer" also won a prize at this year's Bologna Ragazzi Awards. “Summer” has been published in Spain, Portual, France, Italy and China. It is said that Lee’s works played a critical role in expanding the readership of illustration books to include not only children, but also adults. The Hans Christian Andersen Awards were established in 1956 to commemorate Hans Christian Andersen, a 19th-century Danish children’s writer, and are presented biennially to a living author and illustrator whose complete works have made a lasting contribution to children’s literature. https://www.ibby.org/awards-activities/awards/hans-christian-andersen-award/hans-christian-andersen-awards-2022

Mar 23, 2022

Initiated by Melbourne UNESCO City of Literature, poets from Edinburgh, Heidelberg, Exeter, Iowa City, Granada, Norwich, Manchester, Khumo, Tartu, and Melbourne have collaborated on a chain reading of the 'So I'll talk about it', by Ukrainian poet Serhiy Zhadan to celebrate the culture of Ukraine, and share a message of solidarity, hope and resilience. #CreativeCitiesofLiterature #World Poetry Day #StandWithUkraine

Mar 22, 2022

Marking the 2022 edition of World Poetry Day and celebrating linguistic diversity through poetic expression, we are thrilled to announce the release of International Chain Poem created by UNESCO Cities of Literature Network! The poem was initiated by Utrecht UNESCO City of Literature as a way to bring poets and translators into contact with each other during the corona pandemic and to conduct a poetic research into what happens when we listen carefully to each other. Poets and translators from twelve UNESCO Cities of Literature Cities have jointly written a poem in one year. The poem is titled 'These are waiting days' after the first words of the opening stanza written by poet Yentl van Stokkum for World Poetry Day 2021 and translated by poet and translator Mia You. Over the year long, Utrecht City of Literature published a new stanza every month and the complete poem has been released on March 21 2022. You can read the poem here: https://www.cityofliterature.nl/en/cities-of-literature-chainpoem/ Writer and audio artist Wietse Leenders made an audio piece of the complete poem incorporating the original audio recordings in the original language of each of the poets, followed by an English translation. You can listen to the audio piece here : https://soundcloud.com/user-765794804/dit-zijn-wachtende-dagen-these-are-waiting-days Poets and translators from Edinburgh, Wonju, Melbourne, Odessa, Heidelberg), Manchester, Bucheon, Durban, Dunedin, Nottingham, Ulyanovsk made a contribution to the poem. Participants: Edinburgh: Colin Bramwell Wonju: poet Kim Jong-ho, translator Sung Eungee Melbourne: Evelyn Araluen Odessa: poet Anna Streminskaya, translator Anzhelika Kuznetsova Heidelberg: poet Miriam Tag, translator Rod Rojas Manchester: Rory Dickinson Bucheon: poet Kyungsook Ko, translator Eun-Gwi Chung Durban: Adiela Akoo Dunedin: Annie Villiers Nottingham: Ioney Smallhorne Ulyanovsk: Gala Uzryutova

Mar 21, 2022

We are thinking of our friends in Lviv City of Literature and Odessa City of Literature and all of the people of Ukraine including the country's many writers and poets. We follow developments with heavy hearts and advocate peace, freedom of expression and respect for democracy. #StandWithUkraine Here is the link for 6 Ukrainian poems that capture a bold moment in contemporary poetry. https://www.calvertjournal.com/articles/show/12137/contemporary-ukrainian-poems

Feb 25, 2022

To celebrate World Poetry Day, Utrecht UNESCO City of Literature started an international chain poem on 21 March 2021. Local poet Yentl van Stokkum wrote the first three lines of verse, that were translated into English by Mia You. Every month a poet and translator from one of the 39 UNESCO Cities of Literature add a new verse. The newest part of Loney Smallhorne from Nottingham City of Literature has been published on the 21st of January 2022. You can read the lines by the previous poets here: https://www.cityofliterature.nl/.../cities-of-literature.../

Jan 28, 2022

A feature article about the Haunted Bookshop of Iowa City, a utopia of readers, writers, musicians and artists, nestled in the American Midwest, in the Books + Publishing Magazine by our friends at Melbourne City of Literature! https://www.booksandpublishing.com.au/articles/2021/04/28/185421/melbourne-city-of-lit-meets-iowa-citys-the-haunted-bookshop/?fbclid=IwAR0thHwYXcN45k6FpPjSkMbXZpITgFIr7VXlHm1GUPNHAN4CAFDXSLmPtNg

May 4, 2021

Here’s part two of UNESCO Creative Cities of Literature’s International Chain Poem led by Utrecht City!

Apr 28, 2021

The Asia Pacific Regional Forum for World Press Freedom day will be held on Friday, 30 April, 2021.

Apr 27, 2021

Manchester UNESCO City of Literature offers two virtual writer residencies to take place this June during the Festival of Libraries. During the residency, writers will be hosted by one of Manchester’s historic libraries with the opportunity to explore their online collections and archives, meet librarians to find out more about Manchester’s literary heritage and collections, and enjoy virtual tours of the city. They will also be encouraged to be engaged in Manchester's literary community via social media and to produce a new piece of writing responding to Manchester or links between the city and their own UNESCO City of Literature. There is a fee of ￡1,500 for each residency. These residencies are open to published writers with strong links to a UNESCO City of Literature. The deadline is 10 May. For more information, please visit here: https://www.manchestercityofliterature.com/opportunity/virtual-writer-residencies-at-the-festival-of-libraries/

Apr 7, 2021

If you travel Krakow in Poland, you must visit Massolit Books, Krakow’s very own and super charming bookstore specialized in books in English, used and new! Here’s an article about Massolit Books, the first part of Melbourne City of Literature’s article series about bookshops in cities of literature around the world in an Austrailian magazine Books +Publishing. https://www.booksandpublishing.com.au/articles/2021/03/31/183827/melbourne-city-of-lit-meets-krakows-massolit-books/?fbclid=IwAR0k3Xjugndp36VWMgTwhYEf8IOAV5zq0TYhOcFw-GxFN31C_eitgOr7YAg

Apr 7, 2021