Congratulations to the New Cities of Literature!

Today UNESCO has announced the designation of 58 new Creative Cities in total across eight art forms to join its Creative Cities Network, making for a total of 408 Creative Cities from more than 100 countries worldwide.

Among these new Creative Cities, ten have been designated in Literature: Aberystwyth (Wales); Abuja (Nigeria); Celje (Slovenia); Conakry (Guinea); Dumaguete City (Philippines); Gdańsk (Poland); Kahramanmaraş (Türkiye); Lund (Sweden); San Luis Potosi (Mexico); and Tangier (Morocco). The UNESCO Creative Cities of Literature extend their congratulations and a warm welcome to their new sibling Cities and look forward to collaborating to promote the power of literature for sustainable and inclusive societies.

Kjartan Már Ómarsson, Program Manager of Reykjavík UNESCO City of Literature and Creative Cities of Literature Network Lead says:

“We warmly welcome the new Cities of Literature to our global network. Their creativity, diversity, and commitment to the written word will strengthen our collective mission to place culture and storytelling at the heart of sustainable and inclusive urban development.”

Apply Now for Our Microgrants 2026 Program!

The popular Microgrants program is back. Seattle City of Literature is awarding $10,000 in microgrants to Seattle-area literary projects and programs with active participation from another country.
New this year: we are awarding microgrants of $1,000 each to FIVE individual artists and microgrants of $2,500 to TWO organizations.

Learn more here.

Seattle Literary Survey 2025

We want to hear from you, our literary community! Seattle has a long and storied history as a literary hub in the Pacific Northwest, earning the city the UNESCO designation as a City of Literature in 2017.

Please share what being a part of this community means to you in the survey below.

This survey should take approximately 15 minutes. We encourage you to share it with those you think would like to be part of the conversation. PLEASE SHARE!!!

Respondents, and their literary cohorts, are invited to gather together at LitUp on Thursday, October 23 from 6-8pm at A/Stir (@astirseattle ) in Capitol Hill, to learn more about Seattle City of Literature and connect with other literary community members. The first 25 survey respondents to arrive at LitUp will receive a free drink ticket. We hope to see you there!

Apply Now for International Residency Opportunities

Want to write in Wonju, South Korea; Granada, Spain; or Prague, Czech Republic? Three of our sister cities of literature are accepting applications for writing residencies.

Toji Cultural Center,; Wonju, South Korea

Wonju City of Literature is offering a chance for one writer from a City of Literature to visit the city and stay at Toji Cultural Centre for eight weeks. The residency will run in September and October 2025 and travel, accommodation, and many meals are included. Applications are due by July 11, 2025.

Prague City of Literature is accepting applications for their 2026 residency program. As in previous years, they are looking for authors whose project is thematically connected to Prague. They offer eight two-month residencies at Franz Kafka´s House, with all costs - accommodation, stipend and travel expenses - fully covered. Applications will be accepted until August 18, 2025.

Granada UNESCO City of Literature Office is accepting applications for their Writers in Residence Programme for November 2025. Travel expenses, accommodation and board are included. Application submissions are due by August 31, 2025.  Knowledge of the Spanish language will be highly valued, although it is not essential.

Applications for Board Vice President are now open!

Board members from Seattle City of Literature with Yoko Onden from Okayama City of Literature in April 2025.

Seattle City of Literature is taking applications to fill the volunteer position of Board Vice President. Seattle is a UNESCO City of Literature, strengthening the local and global literary communities. Our working board is a dynamic group of volunteers, and we meet online the third Wednesday of each month, collaborating to accomplish our mission of connecting and strengthening the local and global storytelling communities.