The UNESCO Cities of Literature is a network of hubs of independent publishing and cities that host large-scale literary festivals around the world. The network was established in 2004, with the primary goal of promoting cultural connectivity by bringing together writers, translators, poets, small regional publishers and booksellers. It now has creative cities as members in seven fields: crafts and folk art, design, film, gastronomy, media arts and music. The network comprises hundreds of creative cities across 28 countries and six continents.

It is an enterprise that recognises that artists thrive in synchronicity with one another. The network prioritises independent local publishing houses, the tradition of public poetry readings, literary and art festivals, freedom of speech and artistic expression and cross-cultural and interdisciplinary collaborations between creative people. The Cities of Literature project is a part of UNESCO’s work towards sustainable development goals for 2030, specifically serving the objective to “make cities and human settlements inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable,” with the understanding that a thriving literary and artistic community is essential to cultural and political innovation in any city.

In 2019, Waseem Butt, a German politician of Pakistani descent with roots in Lahore, and Dr Andrea Edel, the head of the cultural office of the City of Literature, Heidelberg, attended the Lahore Literary Festival (LLF). Dr Edel gave a talk on what Heidelberg had accomplished in recent years as a City of Literature. During their visit to Lahore, Mr Butt and Dr Edel were taken with the cultural vibrancy of Lahore, the warmth of the welcome they received and the scale and success of the LLF. Dr Edel was approached by participants and guests at the festival about how Lahore could join the network. They helped stakeholders from Lahore to apply to be a City of Literature. Since the application can only be submitted via the city administration, the then mayor of Lahore was also recruited into the effort. This resulted in Lahore being declared a City of Literature in November 2019.

This week, The News on Sunday spoke with Dr Edel about the UNESCO Cities of Literature, Lahore’s promise as a literary and cultural hub and its potential role in the network.

The News on Sunday (TNS): What does it mean to be a City of Literature?

Andrea Edel (AE): To be a City of Literature, in the UNESCO Network of Creative Cities means that you are in touch with the other UNESCO Cities of Literature in the world. You share the same aims as UNESCO, which means, for instance, freedom of speech, equal access to education and a passion for literature. The network enables creative cities to collaborate with one another immediately and directly.

TNS: Since Lahore was declared a City of Literature in 2019, how has it been engaged in the network?

The network prioritises independent local publishing houses, the tradition of public poetry readings, literary and art festivals, freedom of speech and artistic expression and cross-cultural and interdisciplinary collaborations between creative people.

AE: There have already been some events involving writers and publishers from Lahore. For the opening of the Heidelberg Literature Festival in May 2020, we had online guests from Lahore, who contributed readings of their poetry to the festival. We were very impressed with the poetry submissions we received from Lahore during the festival. Saleema Hashmi and the former mayor of Lahore also participated. We are planning some events with literary organisations in Lahore for after the corona crisis. We had planned an event celebrating the poetry of Allama Muhammad Iqbal, which was to be co-organised by the Cities of Literature, Heidelberg and Lahore. Unfortunately, we could not do an in-person event due to the pandemic. However, we conducted an online event in concert with Iqbal House, Lahore. It was open to the public and we had quite a large audience.

We do not yet have a liaison or point person in Lahore for the Cities of Literature. City Councillor of Heidelberg Waseem Butt, who travelled with me to Lahore in 2019, is functioning as an informal ambassador. He helps connect us with publishers and literary organisations in Lahore. A newly designated City of Literature needs some time to establish its own structure and means of connecting literary people in the city to one another and to other creative cities around the world. It takes time to understand and organise the local literary scene, to get in touch with writers, publishing houses and bookstores in the city and to make them aware that they now have new opportunities to work with other people in the industry internationally.

We need to have an administrative cell in the city of Lahore, where we, the other Cities of Literature, could address queries we may have. If a person in Lahore or any other city has a query or needs to contact a resource, like a translator, artist or writer to collaborate with in Heidelberg, they can contact me in my office by visiting, calling or sending an email. My office is in touch regularly with the writers, publishers and booksellers of Heidelberg. In case we cannot find the resource that the people or organisations making the query are looking for, we may refer them to the administrative cells of other creative cities. Lahore should also have such a person.

TNS: What, in your opinion, is the potential of interdisciplinary collaboration within the arts and how does the creative cities network facilitate it?

AE: In Heidelberg, we have many book clubs and groups of writers that meet regularly to discuss their professional experience as authors in Germany. During the corona crisis, freelance writers and artists here had trouble securing their livelihoods. An artists’ assembly was formed to figure out solutions for the problems that artists face professionally. We also have an assembly for publishers and one for booksellers. These groups meet regularly to think of ways to promote literature and how to involve more people. There are many intercity and cross-cultural artists’ exchanges going on.

Interdisciplinary collaboration is pure creativity. We had a project in Heidelberg called “In the Beginning, Art”, in which we invited artists to produce films showcasing their recent works of art. Given that there are UNESCO creative cities in seven different fields means that an author can collaborate with a dancer, composer or film maker anywhere in the world.

The writer is a staff member. She can be reached on instagram @amar.alam_literally