Nottingham City of Literature - Membership Monitoring Report 2024
1. Executive Summary
Nottingham, a vibrant city of 323,700 in the heart of the midlands of England, has a rich and rebellious literary history. The city has made a remarkable contribution to literature, underpinned by the city’s tradition of civil resistance, political defiance and social justice. There’s a contrarian common thread running through our heritage from Byron to Lawrence through Sillitoe to Sleaford Mods and our thriving, multi-faced literary scene.
The city has eighteen public libraries, and a new Central Library which opened in November 2023. Found in the heart of the city centre, the library is spread over three floors and is fully accessible via lifts, features a high-quality children’s library with an immersive storytelling room, extensive book collections and comfortable areas to sit and read.
“Nottingham is a city of cultural, creativity, arts and literature and we recognise the significant contribution these play in the growth and economic success of the city. This report on the last four years of the UNESCO designation shows how partners have worked together successfully under Nottingham City of Literature to better promote the literary offer for all residents.
The work of Nottingham City of Literature has had a positive impact on reading, writing, literacy and language skills within our communities, and whilst the last four years have been a challenge with the global pandemic – I am proud of the response from our literary partners to ensure culture and creativity still thrive and drive the city to be attractive and welcoming.
As part of our original bid to become a UNESCO City of Literature, we promised to build a new city library, and we opened the new state-of-the art Central Library in November 2023. Creating a library for all and for the future, with fantastic children’s areas and adult learning support. We look forward to working together with Nottingham City of Literature towards Nottingham becoming the leading destination for lovers of literature worldwide.”
Cllr Pavlos Kotsonis, Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Culture at Nottingham City Council, May 2022 - May 2024.
1. Executive Summary
We have key literary city assets in the city: Bromley House Library, founded in 1816, a flourishing independent lending library and one of the few remaining subscription libraries in the country. The city is also home to many independent bookshops, including award winning Five Leaves Bookshop, with best-selling sections on politics, speculative fiction, LGBTQ+ fiction and non-fiction, poetry and general fiction. There are also a variety of second hand bookshops: Oxfam Books and Music, and Bookwise.
Our city is home to a rich variety of novelists, playwrights, screenwriters, comic creators and poets. Nottingham Playhouse was 2019 Regional Theatre of the year and won the ‘Most Welcoming Theatre 2023’ in UK Theatre Awards. We have a dynamic grassroots poetry scene with numerous live literature and spoken word events, including the annual Nottingham Poetry Festival.
Despite our strong literary and cultural heritage, we still struggle with low levels of literacy. Nottingham is the most deprived ‘Core City’ based on the Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index and is the local authority with the 6th worst GCSE results. Eight of 20 Nottingham wards are within the 10% most deprived areas in the country, and 17 in the bottom 20%. Nottingham North is the 8th most ‘at risk’ constituency in the country for literacy vulnerability with Nottingham East being 15th. Two of Nottingham’s 10 ‘worse than median’ Levelling Up measures are poor literacy for people under the age of 19.
At Nottingham City of Literature, we believe that literacy and reading are the most powerful weapons we have in alleviating patterns of poverty and inequality. Our mission is to build better futures with words, and we do this through our projects and programmes focusing on young people 13 to 25 years old. Some of these initiatives are our Youth Advisory Board, to have youth voice at the heart of our work; consistent success at the Cities of Literature initiative’s Slamovision, creative pathways and multiple student placements with widening participation students; our Young Voices Amplified project working in secondary schools with low levels of literacy; Rainbow Library and Our Stories, increasing representation of young people from LGBTQ+ communities. We aim for depth and significance of intervention and support within our work.
Nottingham City of Literature has led the way in terms of how Cities of Literature can be structured and governed through strong public, university and community partnerships. Our designation as UNESCO City of Literature in 2015, has been managed by a charitable company which has been receiving core funding from Nottingham City Council, Nottingham Trent University and the University of Nottingham, as well as generous project strategic funds awarded by Arts Council England. In April 2023 we joined the Arts Council England’s National Portfolio Organisation 2023-2026. The application was done working closely with the Board of Trustees and Youth Advisory Board, aiming to: ‘take Nottingham as a UNESCO City of Literature forward with new leadership animated by young voices’.
Peter Knott, Area Director Midlands at Arts Council England, said:
We were delighted to welcome Nottingham City of Literature into our national portfolio in 2023. Great literature has the power to transport the reader through time and space, opening up windows into other worlds and cultures, and we look forward to seeing this championed by the organisation now and into the future.
1. Executive Summary (continued)
To strengthen our work, we continue developing our evaluation strategies, and have worked on a framework since 2022 to better capture our impact, and to complement Illuminate’s data capture (the Arts Council England’s platform for evaluation), but also bespoke for Nottingham City of Literature with University of Nottingham’s support for creative freelancers and interns we work with, as well as evaluation consultants.
Prof. Shearer West, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Nottingham said:
Nottingham has been a UNESCO City of Literature since 2015. This is important to the University as it shines a light on the depth of cultural and creative innovation across the city and invites collaborative engagement between the city and its universities in fresh and exciting ways.
Nottingham City of Literature continues to bring people together online and in person, through poetry slams, writing workshops, literacy initiatives, and other lectures and visits. It is dedicated to improving the world through words, and we are proud to be on this journey with the team through our valued partnership.
We look forward to seeing what the future of this partnership holds and how we continue to develop Nottingham’s creative presence both locally and on the world stage.
Nottingham and Agenda 2030
Nottingham City of Literature embraces the Agenda 2030 sustainable development goals, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, which provide a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future. At its heart are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries. The last eight years have seen a focus on literacy which corresponds with goals:
Find out more about the Cities of Literature network.
Our mission is to build better futures with words. We aim to:
empower young talented creatives as agents of social change to share and promote their culture, stories and experiences with diverse audiences.
create impact in our local communities by inspiring people to read, write and enjoy words by making literature relevant to and reflective of our local and global community.
animate Nottingham’s literary scene and its radical literary heritage, developing its ecology and the way that people enjoy, understand and access literature, literacy and free expression.
share our expertise with international collaborators to generate new thinking and exchange for the benefit of Nottingham’s writers and communities.
In pursuit of our mission, we have agreed three strategic goals:
We make progress against these goals through a number of special projects with different sustainability goals as a focal point.
1 2 3
Place:
To be a lead partner in Nottingham’s cultural sector, promoting Nottingham’s strong identity as a UNESCO Creative City and providing strong leadership and advocacy on the local, national and international stage.
Learning: International:
To host events, develop programmes, commission new work and create new partnerships with schools, libraries, universities and communities and helping to grow diverse audiences for reading and writing.
To share knowledge, learning and best practice, and broker opportunities for creative collaboration.
2. General Information
Name of City:
Nottingham
Country:
England, UK
Entity responsible for the report:
Nottingham City of Literature
Creative Field:
Literature
Date of Designation:
2015
Focal points of contact:
Hannah Trevarthen Director, Nottingham City of Literature
Address:
Nottingham Central Library, 1 Carrington Street, Nottingham, NG1 7FH
Date of submission of current report:
July 2024
Previous report submitted:
December 2019
3. Contribution to the network’s global management
Hosting of a working or coordination meeting addressed to one or more specific UCCN creative field representatives
Hosted and chaired the bi-monthly Cities of Literature working group meetings online.
Co-chair of Literature Development and Integration working group via Zoom.
Story Valley Transnational Partner Meeting, Nottingham, May 2023: representatives from Edinburgh, Ljubljana and Leeuwarden.
Membership of the Steering Group and period
Number of UCCN annual meetings attended in the last four years:
UNESCO Creative Cities Network Annual Meetings
Online
Online
Santos, Brasil (online presentation/video)
Istanbul, Turkey (cancelled)
Attended online meeting.
Hosting of a UCCN annual meeting and dates
Cities of Literature Sub-network Annual Meetings
Online
Reykjavik, Iceland
Melbourne, Australia
Quebec City, Canada
Hosting of an international conference or meeting on specific issues salient to the Creative Cities with a large participation of members of the Network
Our former director, Sandeep Mahal, was the Chair of the Cities of Literature network until September 2021.
Participated in international conferences in Bandung (2023), Bremen (2023), Bucheon (2022).
Participation in the evaluation of applications: N/A
Financial and/or in-kind support provided to UNESCO’s Secretariat in order to ensure the management, communication and visibility of the UCCN (type of contribution, estimated value, main objectives, and dates):
Nottingham City of Literature and partners has provided significant in-kind support to UNESCO through promotion of the Network, staff time and the cost of attending the Annual Conference and the sub-network conference. This is calculated as a total of £100,000 between in-kind support and cash in the period 2020-24.
Hannah Trevarthen from January 2024; Sandeep Mahal, 2020-2021.
2021 – 11 applications
2023 – 15 applications, and collated all the network’s evaluation into one final document for the Chair of the Cities of Literature to share with UNESCO.
3. Contribution to the network’s global management
International Initiatives and Collaborations
UNESCO LGBTQ+ Futures Literacy Laboratory Writers in Residency
We worked on Futures Literacy Laboratory since 2016. In 2021-22, in collaboration with other UNESCO Cities of Culture around the world, a Nottingham team of young LGBTQIA+ facilitators held three workshops with LGBTQIA+ community members to discuss the importance and the future possibilities of queer safe spaces: what these spaces would, should and could look like in Nottingham. In July 2022, we presented this work virtually at the XIV UNESCO Creative Cities Network Annual Conference in Santos, Brazil.
The Nottingham young people discussions focused on:
how we can look after individuals when LGBTQIA+ identities have become a political agenda,
how to raise awareness and find solutions on discrimination and equal opportunities,
how we can reframe the future to include communities that identify as LGBTQIA+.
Our young people would like to see more feedback systems, more queer creative outputs such as exhibitions, and libraries, and greater symbolic visibility in the city.
a) Melbourne City of Literature
In 2021, three Nottingham women writers became virtual Writers in Residence in Melbourne, Australia.
Sue Dymoke hosted by the State Library of Victoria, Australia’s oldest library (1854), delivered an online poetry workshop for its members focused on using objects and photos from the Library’s Collection to inspire writing and apply this to their own poetry.
Leanne Moden worked with The F Project, a visual arts charity in Warrnambool. Leanne hosted an online ekphrastic writing workshop, based on one of their exhibitions and also organised a Poetry Swap, with writers from Nottingham and Warrnambool performed for via Zoom. Leanne produced a set of poems, based on words, phrases, and ideas submitted by people at the F Project.
Jo Weston was hosted by vibrant Writers Victoria, which holds events from training programmes to publishing its own magazine. Jo wrote an essay on literary events and the importance of online access, participated in the Booklovers Festival, and gave a webinar on the creation and publicisation of literary leaflets, chapbooks, and pamphlets.
Writers in Residency (continued)
a) Melbourne City of Literature (continued)
In October 2023, two more Nottingham writers were selected for the Melbourne Virtual writers residency out of 58 applications:
Sarah Daniels worked at the Melbourne Young Writer Studio, on a fantasy project who has a personal connection to her own story.
Neal Pike, worked on Rawcus, exploring topics alongside an Ensemble of performers with and without a disability.
b) Wonju City of Literature
The 2022 Writer in Residency in Wonju, South Korea, was awarded to Georgina Kamsika, a speculative fiction writer born in Yorkshire, living in Nottingham, out of 37 applicants. Hosted at the Toji Cultural Centre, Georgina came back home with a solid draft of a fantasy novel, a network of new connections and friends, and a long list of authors recommended by the other artists in residence.
Typhoon Hinnamnor arrived, and inspired a fantasy novel about sustainability. My room faced the forest, my soundtrack was of birds calling to each other, dogs barking, and the hard working farmers.
c) Bucheon City of Literature
From a field of 75 applications, Nottingham poet, critic, and editor Rory Waterman was one of two writers in Residence at Bucheon City of Literature, South Korea in 2020. Rory spent his time exploring Bucheon and the surrounding areas and the border with North Korea, connecting with local and visiting writers and translators, and giving readings and a lecture. He wrote, focusing on poems about place, borders, and human stories. He has written about his residency in a series of blogs.
I hadn’t discovered the right new motivations to write, a way to open a new door. I have now, and that is because of Bucheon.
Page Against the Machine (May 2023)
67% of adults in the UK would like to read more (The Reading Agency).
Page Against the Machine encourages readers of all ages and of all backgrounds to switch off from ‘the machine’ – phones, laptops, social media – and pick up a book instead. Seven Cities of Literature took part: Exeter, Kuhmo, Leeuwarden, Manchester, Melbourne, Nottingham, Slemani. In Nottingham:
50 readers gathered at Bromley House Library to enjoy an hour of individual reading
Under 1,500 reach both on Instagram and Facebook.
We all really enjoyed the event and have recommended it to friends and family. We will definitely try to go again next year.
4. Major Initiatives Implemented at the Local Level
4.1 Support and Encouragement of Reading
Common Currency – Freedom Reads
Common Currency, partnership project with English PEN, promotes the free flow of ideas and engages young adult audiences in conversations on freedom of expression.
In August 2021, we delivered the ‘Summer of Freedom Reads’ programme: a series of summer reading and creative writing workshops for 20 young people inspired by protest and freedom of expression, who worked with a wide range of speakers:
Professor Corinne Fowler (University of Leicester), expert in the histories and legacies of colonialism to heritage sites
Writer and poet Panya Banjoko, who works with surfacing voices and highlighting the disparity in underrepresentation of Black people as curators of their own history.
I enjoyed finding different ways to write and I especially enjoyed when we shared our work
Participants wrote and posted letters to writers who have been imprisoned in countries that infringed their human right of freedom of expression. In 2023, Hannah Trevarthen met one of these writers in Turkey and was told that these letters had kept him going in his darkest moments.
Young Voices Amplified
Project Stats
20 young people, aged 14-21
6 speakers / creatives.
65% of participants said the project helped them discover new writers.
82% said the workshops helped them understand more about the challenges some writers face.
1,990 website views.
5,700 reached via Instagram
Our ambitious programme ran for the second time (Nov 2021-Feb 2023). Funded by Arts Council England, the project engaged Year 9 pupils (13-14 year olds) in Nottingham through creative writing in collaboration with writers. We worked with two schools in disadvantaged areas with low literacy levels through developing skills, leadership qualities, providing opportunities of working with writers and getting published.
4. Major Initiatives Implemented at the Local Level
Young Voices Amplified (continued)
Project achievements:
400 pupils reached through 14 workshops.
All the work produced was included in specially produced zines, making each pupil involved a published author.
30 pieces were selected for an anthology by writer facilitators Manjit Sahota and Sophie Sparham
A cohort of students attended an out of school Authors’ Day with professional writers.
I enjoyed how we talked about multiple problems in our society so that we can think about all the things we can fix or make better.
City of Literature Lecture
Launched in 2017, our City of Literature lecture series, supported by University of Nottingham, aims to create a platform for new thinking about the future.
Edmund de Waal delivered the fourth City of Literature Lecture in October 2023. Born in Nottingham, de Waal is a contemporary English artist, master potter and author. He is known for his large-scale installations of porcelain vessels often created in response to collections and archives or the history of a particular place.
De Waal’s book ‘The Hare with Amber Eyes’ was awarded the Costa Book Award for Biography, Royal Society of Literature Ondaatje Prize in 2011 and Windham–Campbell Literature Prize for Non-Fiction in 2015. De Waal’s second book, ‘The White Road’, which traces his journey to discover the history of porcelain, inspired on his own personal family history, was released in 2015.
Notts TV Book Club
Notts TV Book Club broadcasts monthly on Notts TV, a local TV station with 300,000 regular viewers. From its launch in 2021 onwards, the show has had a strategic connection to us, celebrating reading for pleasure across different genres and themes. Host Dr Becky Cullen from Nottingham Trent University’s WRAP (Writing, Reading and Pleasure) programme works in partnership with us to curate a diverse bookshelf, from bestsellers to titles which open dialogues around race, gender, migration, sexual identity and class. With over 120,000 viewers in Season 2, Notts TV Book Club is now entering its third season.
4. Major Initiatives Implemented at the Local Level
4.2 Literature in Public Places
Big City Reads
We ran Big City Reads, our summer reading campaign, for a second time (4 July-12 August 2022). A cohort of young people selected four mood-boosting books for city-wide distribution.
The books explored issues of mental health and wellbeing in sincere but accessible ways. 3 of 5 authors were from the Global Ethnic Majority.
2000 books distributed in areas of high deprivation, low literacy, and limited access to books.
BBC Novels
In March 2021, we hosted three writing workshops that linked to the BBC’s The Novels That Shaped Our World series. These workshops encouraged conversation, question and answer, wider discussion, writing activities and reflection:
‘Mistressclass’ with Eve Makis and Abi Daré discussed the writing journey and the inspiration behind Daré’s debut novel
‘Forgotten Voices’ with activist Sophie Sparham and author journalist Zing Tsjeng who wrote the four-part Forgotten Women book series, which covers leaders, scientists, artists, and writers.
‘Manifesto for Change’ with Panya Banjoko and Selina Nwulu, a conversation about writing practices and giving voice to race, justice, and climate change.
51 people attended, described it as ‘inspiring’, ‘informative’, ‘empowering’ and ‘motivating’.
There was a clear benefit of being brought into a community during the third national lockdown.
It was very enjoyable and empowering writing a manifesto and I felt very invigorated. I loved the interview section, I loved the prompts - they were brilliant, and I loved that the ‘audience’ could participate. Great hosts, great guests, great prompts, great questions.
4. Major Initiatives Implemented at the Local Level
Young Voices Symposium (February 2023)
The symposium explored best practice and ideas for empowering youth voice, brought together young co-producers and creative practitioners.
Topics covered on the symposium:
Including young people on boards
Developing a story of change
Hybrid engagement
Involving young people in evaluation
Encouraging youth voice through journalism International practice
During the day we introduced our International Youth Day young people’s manifesto: A Promise for Change, developed in collaboration with young people in 2022.
4.3 Support for creativity and careers
Youth Advisory Board (YAB)
Since 2021, our YAB has been a collective of ten young creatives, aged 1825, advocating for young people around Nottingham. Their work seeks to co-create our activities, spread a love for words and literature across the city, and contribute to strategic thinking, ensuring youth voice is at the heart of our work.
The YAB members attend monthly meetings and:
contribute to governance help create opportunities and develop plans act as advocates for our work
In return, they receive: free books and tickets, opportunities to develop key skills in leadership and teamwork, deliver events for young people, and advice on how to find a career in the creative sector.
A survey of the YAB (February 2023) found very high levels of satisfaction in the members. Looking forward, they want to develop skills in: ideas presentation, youth engagement, freelancing and event development.
I was blown away by the day to be honest, everyone that was brought in to contribute was amazing and excellent... It feel a very powerful day. I have enjoyed attending meetings and participating in discussions about current and future projects
1,453 views on the YAB website
3,563 reached on Facebook and Instagram on their first major event, Creatives of the Future (May 2023)
Project Stats
4. Major Initiatives Implemented at the Local Level
Creative Pathways Speak Easy
Together with Lakeside Arts at the University of Nottingham and five other creative sector organisations in Nottingham, we participated in and delivered the Creative Pathways placement. This aimed to provide graduates from priority widening participation groups, with firsthand experience of working in the creative industry through paid six-month internships. The internships contributed to diversification and graduate retention in the creative industries sector in the city.
Alongside being embedded at a host organisation, interns attended careers events, cohort support events, and workshops on gaming, journalism, marketing, screen industries, UK music, podcasts, Black Excellence in the Arts, and event management.
A project partner said:
All three of our interns were great – they brought energy, new perspectives and learning to our organisation
From December 2021, Speak Easy is a spoken word collective for young people to showcase their own creative work in a safe and relaxed environment. Created by two members from our youth board, Connor Brown and Abi Hutchinson, now evolved into a bi-monthly programme supported by Nottingham Playhouse and Writing East Midlands, illustrating the strong connection between all creative forms and the abundant creativity and talent of young people in Nottingham.
I truly believe that projects such as this are only possible because of organisations like Nottingham City of Literature and those alike. Without their support a project that now helps many individuals would have been nothing more than an idea. - Abi
Letters of Solidarity
Letters of Solidarity was a creative writing campaign in partnership with the local cultural education partners, ChalleNGe, Nottingham Trent University, and Food Banks Network during the Covid pandemic in 2021.
We provided free resources to over 200 homes in Nottingham including writing prompts, five letter templates, stationary. Local writers shared inspiration including Amanda Whittington, Adam Penford, Ty Healy, Leanne Moden, Jamie Thrasivoulou, and Josh Pickering. Young people were supported in crafting their letters through three online creative writing workshops led by Eve Makis, Ioney Smallhorne, and Panya Banjoko.
Project Stats
4. Major Initiatives Implemented at
Local Level
Letters of Solidarity (continued)
We received and published letters on our website and in a special print anthology edited by young people: ‘To A New Dawn: Letters of Solidarity’. There are stories of frustration, imagination and hopes for a brighter future showing the raw emotions experienced by people during the lockdown.
Letters of Solidarity was showcased worldwide via the UNESCO Networks and during Nottingham Trent University’s Online Language Festival curated by Dr Clare Wood from the Psychology department.
Project Stats
4.4 Nottingham Central Library
When lockdown hit, we were plunged into the darkness. Not as a creeping shadow, we did not get the luxury of time, but rather a plunge into an icy lake with rocks around
our feet. Rocks that were built out of our fear of the unknown, the loss of loved ones and the loss of ourselves. - Emani
Nottingham Central Library opened on 28 November 2023. The brand new ‘state of the art’ library, which is part of the Broadmarsh Car Park and Bus Station development, is a great place for children and puts learning at its heart. Work has transformed the newly pedestrianised streets around the library with high quality public realm and safe pedestrian, cyclist and traffic movement. The library, spread over three floors, features an immersive storytelling room, an extensive book collection and comfortable areas to sit and read.
Other amenities include:
Feature book walls and shelving to display a large collection of books
Free Wi-Fi and free access to computers and tablets
A café and ground floor reception area which can be converted into a performance space
Specialist and rare collections room for local study material
Learning lab for special activities and school class visits
Meeting rooms
Exhibition space
Creative design areas
Business Intellectual
Property Centre for the city.
Our team is based in the library from July 2024 and contributes to its public programmes and events.
5. Major Initiatives implemented through Inner-City Cooperation
5.1 Story Valley
In July 2020 we secured our first two-year international Erasmus+ grant along with the UNESCO Cities of Literature in Edinburgh, Ljubljana, and Leeuwarden. Story Valley sought to use oral histories and languages to build literacy skills and create a sense of belonging and safety for all migrant, refugee and sanctuary seeking young people in Nottingham.
We co-created:
a student programme and teacher pack and resources
an online network and platform for students and teachers to collaborate and connect through
a policy framework and toolkit to support Vocational Educational Training institutions
Each City of Literature partnered with a secondary school or place of Further Education to roll out these materials.
We worked with Nottingham College and its courses in art and design, hairdressing, creative writing, journalism, and ICT and computing to support students using Story Valley as a means of exploring languages, literature, culture, and creativity. In May 2023, Nottingham hosted all Story Valley partners for a three-day visit where we heard talks from academics connected to the project and its themes.
Story Valley was recognised as an example of Good Practice and awarded 90 out of 100 in its final assessment:
Story Valley has met and even exceeded its initial objectives. Success stories like these make one want more. - Erasmus 2023
Together with project partners, we are exploring ways to take the Story Valley approach forward. Nottingham College teachers plan to expand Story Valley across more subject areas and schools in 2024.
The project opened our eyes to our students’ experiences. The students became closer and more engaged with hearing one another shared stories. It was so valuable and impactful - Teacher, Nottingham College nottinghamcityofliterature.com
5. Major Initiatives implemented through Inner-City Cooperation
5.2 Slamovision 2021-2023
Slamovision is an international competition held between the UNESCO Cities of Literature. Nottingham has performed very strongly in this competition. In 2021, we were crowned Slamovision champion with Cara Thompson’s poem ‘Island Screams’. Cara’s poetry explores her identity and Jamaican-British heritage, alongside interrogating the impact of racism upon the Black British community.
In 2022, we hosted 10 poets at the Slamovision finale in December. We were crowned winner once again with Abíọ́dún ‘Abbey’ Abdul’s poem ‘Strong Tea’. Abbey is a Yorùbá-Nigerian English Language lecturer. Her work focuses on social justice and celebrates our common humanity:
It turns out Strong Tea had the right blend of flavour to rouse me from my poetic stupor and waft Nottingham to worldly heights - Abíọ́dún ‘Abbey’ Abdul
Our 2023 champion Annie Cross, a university student, took part in the finale we hosted with 12 Cities of Literature slam poets, five of those performing live in Nottingham. The 2023 champion Esther Koch took the Slamovision crown to Manchester.
5.3 Rainbow Library and Our Stories conference
The Rainbow Library was a groundbreaking LGBTQ+ inclusive publishing project, including stories by and for LGBTQ+ young people. Our Stories is the culmination of The Rainbow Library project, a three-day conference in Manchester, Dublin and Nottingham Cities of Literature over three weekends in November 2023.
The first edition of The Rainbow Library’s publication was shared between Nottingham and Basildon:
60 young people involved
7 UK cities
12 creative pieces published 569 website views
Nottingham’s Our Stories Conference hosted in Nottingham Central Library aimed to create debate on the representation of LGBTQ+ people in children’s books and focused on comics and graphic novels with talks by So Mayer, Jules Scheele and Jake Hall. We explored topics relating to inclusive publishing, queer identity and representation through graphic novels and comics.
Inclusion efforts were brilliant and it was a great opportunity to meet other creatives as well as published authors and agents which wasn’t something I’d been able to do before. Thank you!
30 young people
5. Major Initiatives implemented through Inner-City Cooperation
5.4 International Youth Day (IYD)
On the 17th December 1999, the United Nations declared the 12th August International Youth Day. We lead the IYD celebrations in the Cities of Literature Network.
With 30% of Nottingham’s population aged 18-29, we focus our work on young voices and young creatives in our city.
IYD 2022, was a one-day youth forum, exploring manifestos for change with youth boards from across Nottingham. Young people also explored Intergenerational Solidarity and Nottingham’s plans to become a UNICEF Child Friendly City, by outcomes from the recent LGBTQIA+ UNESCO Futures Literacy Lab, and discussions around the new Central Library. Participants created their own manifesto: A Promise for Change, with a foreword by the former Chair of our Youth Board.
To me this manifesto for change is so much more than a document: to me it is a promise that our generation may have the chance to positively impact the lives of young people for generations to come - Abi Hutchinson
IYD 2023 events led by our Youth Advisory Board explored the ‘imposter syndrome’, the theme of being an emerging creative and held an open mic night. The day was described as “amazing, enriching and inspiring”.
As part of the celebrations, we did a spotlight on the youth projects that eight of our partner Cities of Literature around the world organise and run.
5.5 Upwording
Between June and October 2021, we ran ‘The Upwording Coaching Approach’, for a cohort of 12 professionals drawn from across Nottingham’s creative industry and creative organisations, such as Nottingham Contemporary, Inspire Culture (Nottinghamshire Libraries), City Arts, and Bromley House Library. The training consisted of four two-day sessions led by Rivca Rubin, founder of Upwording and co-director of Islington Mill, Salford.
The Upwording training helped me to develop my leadership and listening skills. It offered me a refreshing approach to focus on having positive conversations focused on using positive language in the workplace
6. Proposed Action Plan for the Forthcoming Mid-Term Period of four Years
We have great ambition to grow the City of Literature and to continue working focusing on young people, aiming to produce great impact in their literacy, and approach to reading, writing and all things words related.
We have secured funding from Arts Council England’s NPO until March 2027, and our University partners will be continuing their financial and partner support too. Within our plans for the next four years, we intend to develop the following projects:
Our City, Our Stories
A creative community project, about gathering local stories, collectively written.
Story Valley’s legacy and national expansion working in schools and colleges.
An opportunity for an emerging creative to become Nottingham’s poet laureate, focused on nature and the environment.
10th Anniversary
We’ll be celebrating 10 years of our designation in 2025. Our aim is to deliver Nottingham’s first ‘International Youth Stories Festival’.
Story Valley
Young Nature Laureate
“Nottingham Trent University is a proud partner of Nottingham UNESCO City of Literature. We take great pride in supporting our City of Literature colleagues to contribute to the international UNESCO Creative Cities Network representing Nottingham as a creative powerhouse and a centre of literary significance and excellence on the world stage. Nottingham UNESCO City of Literature’s commitment to the development of young creatives and readers (such as Big City Reads), dedication to diversity and inclusion, and supported routes to industry echo Nottingham Trent University’s values and priorities, furthering our shared aims to create opportunity in the City and have a positive impact on the community around us.
NTU is committed to working in partnership with Nottingham UNESCO City of Literature to further support ongoing organisational development and engage our academic and student body with the work of the charity. Our shared sustainability priorities are reflected in the Nature Laureate initiative planned for 2024 and we will join the celebration of the 10 year anniversary of Nottingham UNESCO City of Literature in 2025”
Professor Edward Peck, Vice-Chancellor and President, Nottingham Trent University
We will continue working with key strategic partners to promote literacy and literature in education including the National Literacy Trust, ChalleNGe CEP, Nottingham Libraries, and our University partners.
We also support the citywide cultural sector initiatives, including Nottingham Central Library, and the ambition to become carbon neutral by 2028 and to gain UNICEF Child Friendly City status.
6.1 Three initiatives aimed at achieving the objectives of the Network on a local level
A reading strategy for Notttingham: the strategy will be led by cross-sector organisations and services, tailored to the needs of local communities, and executed in collaboration with key regional partners. It will utilise reading to address local priorities and targets. Developing the strategy will involve locallevel mapping and creating an action plan with a focus on literacy development, libraries, and reading. We envision a strategy that leverages reading to achieve key priorities such as well-being, community cohesion, and skills development, grounded in a deep understanding of local community needs.
Building on our strong partnerships with the University of Nottingham and Nottingham Trent University, from October 2024, we will support a Collaborative Doctoral Award focused on understanding language heritages, supporting literacies and developing opportunities for cultural enrichment in Nottingham. It is anticipated that this research will further develop the Story Valley approach. The project is a unique opportunity to research language heritages, and to influence the development of cultural educational opportunities in Nottingham. The project will develop a theoretical framework for documenting, safeguarding, and supporting multilingual and local English-language heritages to enhance cultural opportunities and support literacies for young people.
Big City Reads: The campaign will return in 2026 and 2028. We will give 2000 books away for free across the city, and in communities where young people have limited access to books of their own, giving readers the opportunity to engage in a city-wide shared reading experience. Selected from a longlist by Nottingham City of Literature’s Young Ambassadors and Youth Advisory Board, titles are chosen to resonate with teen and young adult audiences, ensuring their relevance and appeal.
6.2
Three initiatives, programmes or projects aimed at achieving the objectives of the Network on an international level, particularly those involving other member cities in the Network
Connecting Young Creatives: The Next Generation of Creative Cities: Connected to International Youth Day, the project will be an online collaboration between emerging writers and literary workers in Cities of Literature. The objectives are to empower young literary professionals by facilitating knowledge sharing, problem-solving, and collaboration. The project aims to address industry challenges, enhance participants’ skills, and deepen their understanding of the literary landscape. It seeks to increase visibility for emerging writers, build supportive professional networks, and foster innovative solutions to literary industry issues. Additionally, the project intends to engage a broader audience through blog posts, inspire community impact, and document best practices for future collaborations within Cities of Literature, contributing to the social development of the literary community.
Young Nature Laureate: a talent development scheme for a poet under 30 with a focus on climate change and environmental responsibility. One of the country’s greenest cities, we are committed to the municipality’s vision of carbon neutral by 2028. Building on our Young Poet Laureate, the initiative is a two-year term for a poet under 30 to explore sustainable futures, connecting with the city’s UK Science City status and sustainable development goals. We will focus on telling the city’s past and future stories, inspiring civic pride and connection to nature and heritage, through placebased interconnected activity with local, national and international partnerships.
Building on the Connecting Young Creatives project and to mark 10 years of Nottingham’s status as a UNESCO Creative City of Literature, we will develop a city-wide and online festival in public and cultural spaces co-curated by young creatives from UNESCO Creative Cities and with a festival ‘artist-in-residence’. The festival will seek to engage on topics selected by international young and emerging artists and cultural workers - embodying a social justice spirit to help us make sense of the world and imagine the future role of creativity and cities.
6.3 Plan for Communication and Awareness
Review and refine social media and communications strategies of our projects to ensure we are using strategies and tools which reach our young people’s demographic.
Develop a 10th anniversary campaign to highlight the role and impact of Nottingham City of Literature and celebrate the last 10 years of the designation.
Identify major opportunities for animating the UNESCO brand in public places.
Increase the range and depth of media coverage through local, national and international media and broadcast partnerships.
Recruiting
New Communications Manager recruited at a critical time in our development as a newly established National Portfolio Organisation with Arts Council England, who will be helping to shape and share our communications locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally.
Develop our website, to demonstrate impact and reach for past and future projects.
Increase newsletter subscribers by 50%
Get Involved
We run a diverse and innovative range of projects across the city and the wider county, aiming to give our communities – with a focus on young people – and emerging writers ways to find their voice, build their careers and see how words can literally change the world.
If you want to volunteer or partner with us, please contact us to find out how you can get involved.
