Ymgyrch Dinas Llên Campaign
In 2025 Aberystwyth and Ceredigion will submit a bid to become a UNESCO City of Literature.
City of Literature (Dinas Llên) is a prestigious status awarded by UNESCO to celebrate an area’s contribution to literature – past, present and future. Currently there are 53 Cities of Literature across the world. To date Wales has none.
Though not a city, Aberystwyth as a university town and home to national institutions qualifies for this status.
Our Case
Our People
In Ceredigion, as well as the beauty of our natural surroundings, we have a stunning literary heritage. People in these parts left their stories on stones in the 5th and 6th centuries, on vellum in the Middle Ages; on printed pages for centuries and in digital formats for decades. From generation to generation, they have passed on their poems and tales of loss and gain, of adventure and adversity. Aberystwyth alone can claim connection with 300 poets and is the first town in Wales to employ a Town Poet.
Through stories and plays and poetry, through language and languages, we reach out to the world and the world reaches us.
Our Case
Our Institutions
Ceredigion is home to literary institutions of national and international importance: the National Library of Wales, Books Council of Wales, Literature Across Frontiers, Wales Literature Exchange, Aberystwyth University, the University of Wales Centre for Advanced Welsh and Celtic Studies and the University of Wales Trinity Saint David. We have a thriving publishing industry dating back to 1718 and have hosted national festivals of vibrant literature exchange since at least the 12th century.
Our Case
Our ‘Literature for All’ Ethos
At grass-roots level, we have wonderful independent book shops, a library service that busses books to the most rural communities, thriving book groups and eisteddfodau, and practise poetry in a tradition unbroken over a thousand years.
Literature is at our feet as we walk Aberystwyth Promenade. It adorns the Quay at Cardigan, the woodland trail in Llandre. It clads our village walls. It is an integral part of everyday life for people of all ages and backgrounds.
IN RECOGNITION OF THIS, WE’RE SEEKING THE STATUS OF UNESCO CITY OF LITERATURE
What the award would mean to Aberystwyth and Ceredigion?
A greater sense of belonging, pride-of-place and wellbeing felt by residents
More learning opportunities
More interventions to counteract isolation
A catalyst for further growth in the creative industries and benefits to local businesses
A heightened profile which can lead to increased tourism and student numbers
This bid to become a City of Literature offers an opportunity to ensure literature remains as a thriving force that delivers a sustainable, vibrant, bilingual and inclusive community here on the west coast of Wales.
