Exeter is a UNESCO
City of Literature

We are delighted that one of our Trustees, Tom Staniford, is leading an exciting fundraising effort – a charity cycle ride to benefit Exeter City of Literature and 3 other charities.

Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson is a Sunday Times Bestselling author and University of Exeter graduate. In 2024, she spent three weeks on a writing residency in Barcelona UNESCO City of Literature.

We are celebrating 90 years of Penguin Books in 2025 with a series of themed bookshelves that honour Exeter’s unique global status as a City of Literature!

There are a range of activities taking place across the global Cities of Literature network to celebrate International Mother Language Day in 2025. See how everyone is celebrating below.

October marked the twenty-year anniversary of Edinburgh becoming the world’s first UNESCO City of Literature! The City celebrated by hosting the Cities of Literature Annual Conference in October 2024.

We chat with Erin Allgrove from independent Devon publisher Langrove Publishing about Bosun Bob, Devon’s publishing scene and her favourite reading spot.

On Tuesday 10th September, we celebrated the culmination of City Reads and Exeter’s fifth year as a UNESCO City of Literature at the Royal Albert Memorial Museum.

Two free maps have been released to celebrate Exeter and the UK’s UNESCO designations, one from the UK National Commission for UNESCO and the other from Exeter City of Lit.

We are highlighting local literature as part of a global project with other Cities of Literature to show how books from Exeter & Devon reflect the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals.

Several UNESCO Cities of Literature recently collaborated by sharing a piece of their city that represents independence and freedom for an outdoor exhibition in Lviv City of Literature.

Thanks to a grant from the British Council, Exeter UNESCO City of Literature had the opportunity to visit Nanjing UNESCO City of Literature - see what we got up to in June 2024!

Exeter City of Literature and Jakarta City of Literature are commissioning three writers from Devon and three writers from Jakarta to create climate focused writing.

In 2023, we launched a new campaign to make reading more accessible across Exeter and Devon - we wanted to put books into the hands of those that needed them most.

Esmie Jikiemi-Pearson and Sebastià Portell were this year’s writers involved in our annual International Writers Exchange with Barcelona UNESCO City of Literature.

After becoming a charity and independent organisation in late 2021, Arts Council England have awarded Exeter UNESCO City of Literature National Portfolio Organisation status.