Dublin UNESCO City of Literature

Dublin was designated a UNESCO City of Literature in 2010, one of 53 such cities worldwide. The office is not a separate building; it sits within Dublin City Public Libraries, funded by the city council and the department, which tells you how the city has chosen to hold its literary reputation: in the library system rather than in a monument.

What it actually does is worth knowing. One Dublin One Book picks a single title each April and gets the whole city reading it, with a programme of talks, screenings and events built around it. The Dublin Literary Award, at €100,000, is the most valuable prize in the world for a single novel in English, and it is nominated by public libraries. A small-grants scheme funds literary projects, and there is a fellowship exchange with other Cities of Literature.

Nearly all of it is free, and most of it happens in the libraries listed elsewhere in this directory.