UNESCO City of Literature

Melbourne has been named a City of Literature by the United Nations' cultural arm UNESCO.

The recognition is the result of an official bid--brought together by a steering committee led by Crikey publisher Eric Beecher and including Penguin publishing director Bob Sessions, Hardie Grant CEO Sandy Grant, MWF director Rosemary Cameron, Readings owner Mark Rubbo and authors Morris Gleitzman, Kirsty Murray and Carrie Tiffany--which was submitted to the UN in January.

At the heart of the bid was the development of a Centre for Books, Reading and Ideas at the State Library of Victoria, which will house literature bodies including the Melbourne Writers' Festival, the Victorian Writers' Centre, the Emerging Writers' Centre, the Australian Poetry Centre and Express Media.

‘The five tenants of the new centre are mooted to move in in June 2009,' MWF director Rosemary Cameron told WBN. ‘It will be a beautiful and lively space where we will hold some festival events in 2009.'

The announcement of Melbourne's new City of Literature status comes just days before the opening of the 2008 Melbourne Writers' Festival, and makes the city only the second in the world to receive the title, after Edinburgh which was recognised in 2004.

‘The timing of the announcement couldn't be better,' said Cameron. ‘This year we were fortunate to receive some [additional] funds from this City of Literature funding to stage two very special events linking the Melbourne Writers' Festival and the Edinburgh International Book Festival by satellite.' This means Australian author Nam Lee will be beamed to Edinburgh and Salman Rushdie, being interviewed by Roman Koval in Edinburgh, will be broadcast at MWF. ‘So in each event the audiences in both countries will be able to interact and ask questions of the authors,' said Cameron.

State Arts Minister Lynne Kosky said the Melbourne's new status was recognition of those whose work has created the city's vibrant publishing and literature industry.

‘Also what it (the decision) does is celebrate literature as an important art form, and through the centre we will continue to grow that interest and art form', she said.

State Library of Victoria spokesperson Matthew VanHasselt told WBN that the library was 'delighted that Melbourne had been given the gong'. 'We're looking forward to continuing to be a part of this very exciting and vibrant literary scene in Melbourne,' he said.