Readers, prepare your confetti. 2025 marks our first decade as a UNESCO City of Literature - with many more, we hope, to come. Since 2015, Nottingham City of Literature has been honouring their commitment to building better futures with words, especially for our young people. This has included working with local educational institutions to enhance literacy, facilitating career events for blossoming creatives, and fostering global connections with Nottingham’s UNESCO sister cities. We took a look at what they’ve achieved so far….
“We’re looking forward to building on the successes of the last decade,” Hannah Trevarthen, Director of Nottingham City of Literature, told us. “And to continue to champion Nottingham’s past, present and future stories, writers and readers - locally, nationally and internationally.”
City of Lit has now pasted a celebratory message on the side of an NCTX bus, which reads: ‘Barcelona, Ljubljana, Nottingham, Lviv, what do they all have in common?’ The answer is that they’ve all been Cities of Lit for ten years - and they all know how to throw a party.
But before the corks start popping, let’s look over some of the things that City of Lit has offered to our literary city over the years…
Youth Advisory Board - from 2021
This board is made up of a team of young creatives aged 16 to 25 who meet monthly to produce literary events and opportunities for young people in Nottingham while supporting the City of Literature in their projects and future aims. In recent years they’ve helped out with celebrations for Nottingham Poetry Festival, World Poetry Day, and International Youth Day. This Youth Advisory Board also gives back to its board members - they receive free books and event tickets, skill development sessions, paid experience in event planning and delivery, and career advice for the creative sector.
Let’s give big thanks to all the board’s past and current members: Annie Cross, Mia Hagues, Ava Richmond, Henry Lambert, Elle Jacobson, and Jacob Hall.
Internships
Each year, Nottingham City of Literature offers at least five paid internships to support talented creatives in getting a foothold in the literary industry. These internships train interns in various employable skills such as social media literacy, event planning, and project delivery. The City of Literature blog is a great way to track the interns’ developing creative insights as they go.
Young Poet Laureate Programme (from 2017-2019)
Georgina Wilding, founding editor of Mud Press, was Nottingham’s first Young Poet Laureate. This began with an open call from the City of Literature which inspired creatives to join its citywide contest for the two-year Arts Council funded position. During her tenure, Georgina wrote and performed commissioned poetry for city stakeholders such as The University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University. She also contributed to Nottingham’s community by performing at Hockley Hustle and leading writing residencies for over five hundred young people at Lakeside Arts, City Arts, Hyson Green Library, and Djanogly Academy. It’s more than safe to say that Georgina achieved our City of Literature’s aims of promoting literature, inspiring young people’s creativity, and providing insights into what it means to be young in Nottingham. Currently, Georgina continues to support our city’s literary scene as a prolific poetry performer and as Nottingham Central Library’s Events Manager.
Barcelona, Ljubljana, Nottingham, Lviv, what do they all have in common?’ The answer is that they’ve all been Cities of Lit for ten years - and they all know how to throw a party
International Opportunities
“Nottingham is nothing less than a cultural beacon,” said Sam Lux of Nottingham City Council. “But this has been too often overlooked. Having our City of Literature status over the last decade has helped us to shine a light on our rich heritage and current array of talent. It’s opened up wonderful opportunities and allowed us to establish our well-deserved place on the global stage”
The City of Literature team regularly facilitates such international opportunities, strengthening Nottingham’s place in our global literary community. For example, this past year, the City of Literature organised virtual writing residencies for our Nottingham creatives Andrew Tucker Leavis, Alison Moore, and Neal Pike to exchange artistry with our sister UNESCO city Melbourne. Most recently, this June we’ve had the blessing of Vanessa Belle at our door - bringing us readings of her newest anthology Monuments and speaking on her life, creative practice, and career in Québec as a City of Literature.
Nature Poet Laureate Programme - coming soon
This past March and April, City of Literature opened up to poets under the age of thirty-five, asking for their applications to become Nottingham’s first Nature Poet Laureate. By establishing this role City of Literature is responding to our earth’s forgotten importance: seeking an advocate for climate crisis awareness and nature’s integral role in our individual and collective wellbeing. Moreover, Nottingham City of Literature has an activities programme in the works which plans to connect our communities with each other and nature - inspiring us all to employ the written word to celebrate our local ecosystems and planet.
Be on the lookout for our next laureate! They’ll be popping out of the chrysalis sometime soon to serve an eighteen-month tenure alongside community facilitators as a mentor of local talent; a representative of Nottingham’s young creatives; and as an educator on the climate crisis.
So, to all the creatives, readers, and residents of Nottingham - happy tenth anniversary. Many more celebratory events are coming throughout 2025, so stay literary! We’ll see you there.
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