Nine cities added to city of literature list

UNESCO's Creative Cities Network took a big leap in size this month as Director-General Irina Bokova named 47 cities from 33 countries as new members of the network. It was the most significant growth in the network's 11-year history, and brings the number of designated cities to 116.

Of the new cities, nine earned the City of Literature designation, bringing that list to 20 members. In addition, three new U.S. cities were named to the network, bringing the U.S. delegation to six cities.

The new Cities of Literature are Baghdad, Iraq; Barcelona, Spain; Ljubljana, Slovenia; Lviv, Ukraine; Montevideo, Uruguay; Nottingham, United Kingdom; Obidos, Portugal; Tartu, Estonia; and Ulyanovsk, Russia. They join Edinburgh, Scotland; Melbourne, Australia; Iowa City; Dublin, Ireland; Norwich, United Kingdom; Krakow, Poland; Heidelberg, Germany; Prague, Czech Republic; Granada, Spain; and Dunedin, New Zealand.

The new U.S. cities named were Austin, Texas (Media Arts); Detroit (Design), and Tucson (Gastronomy). They join Iowa City; Santa Fe, New Mexico (Crafts and Folk Art); and Paducah, Kentucky (Crafts and Folk Art).

The network, formed in 2004, recognizes cities in seven creative fields: Crafts and Folk Art, Design, Film, Gastronomy, Literature, Media Arts and Music.

By joining the network, cities commit to collaborate and develop partnerships with a view to promoting creativity and cultural industries, to share best practices, to strengthen participation in cultural life, and to integrate culture in economic and social development strategies and plans.

John Kenyon, executive director of the Iowa City UNESCO City of Literature, said his organization looks forward to connecting and collaborating with the new members.

'This is an exciting time for our network as we add to the cultural and geographic diversity with these new cities,” he said. 'We welcome the opportunity to share Iowa City's literature culture with these new partners, and to learn about their assets as we seek further ways to leverage our designations.”