Led by Bucheon, the cities underlined literature’s essential role in society, its ability to enhance people’s lives and its role in achieving the SDGs. Bucheon, Exeter and Manchester concentrated on providing access to cultural activities for vulnerable or marginalized groups, such as the elderly and disadvantaged.
Exeter highlighted a new free bibliotherapy programme for the benefit of low-income families struggling with literacy and reading engagement. Bibliotherapy is a therapeutic approach using literature to help people better understand the world.
Dunedin launched a project with literacy workshops for children run by a well-known poet at local schools, while Kuhmo published on the Finnish epic poem The Kalevala. Heidelberg highlighted MENTOR, an organization supporting schoolchildren’s reading abilities.
Other Creative Cities of Literature focused more specifically on the 2021 theme for Literacy Day, ‘Narrowing the digital divide’. For example, Ulyanovsk held events on digital literacy, including a mini-course on the topic, in the city’s libraries.
Creative Cities of Literature are part of the wider , launched in 2004, which comprises almost 300 cities in nearly 90 UNESCO Member States. Besides literature, it covers crafts and folk art, design, film, gastronomy, media arts and music, uniting cities that have pledged to place culture and creativity at the heart of their sustainable development.
