In 2010, Dublin became the world’s fourth UNESCO City of Literature, following Edinburgh, Melbourne and Iowa City. The designation was awarded to Dublin in recognition of the vibrancy of its literary culture and the richness of its heritage.
Just think of the bookshops, libraries, museums, theatres, festivals and literary activity which enliven our city streets. Dublin is a city famed for four Nobel Laureates associated with the city – George Bernard Shaw, W.B. Yeats, Samuel Beckett, and Seamus Heaney, as well as its living writers including award-winning authors such as John Banville, Roddy Doyle, Anne Enright, Sally Rooney and Colum McCann.
The designation means that Dublin is now a member of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network. This group of Cities of Literature work together, sharing experiences and ideas on a global platform and creating new opportunities for cultural, social, and sustainable development.
One Dublin One Book
Clodagh Kingston is the Director of Dublin UNESCO City of Literature, which is managed by Dublin City Libraries, part of Dublin City Council’s Department of Culture, Community, Leisure and Area Services.
Speaking about how the initiative operates, Clodagh Kingston explains: “There are now 63 Cities of Literature across the world, and we all run our own programmes from local funding and partnerships. The UNESCO designation doesn’t bring funding with it unfortunately. Our office is funded by Dublin City Council, and we receive funding support for programming from the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport. Our team partners with literary festivals, organisations and local literary events to showcase the city’s vibrant literary community and established literary heritage to the world.”
Kevin Street Library
Dublin is a significant and active member of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network and helped Abuja, Nigeria, win UNESCO City of Literature status last October by mentoring their bid team.
“We come together with colleagues in Cities of Literature to work on unique projects, highlight opportunities, and provide support for Irish writers to apply for residencies, programmes, and events abroad,” notes Clodagh.
Dublin City of Literature Projects
Our major programmes and events each year include the Dublin Literary Award. Sponsored by Dublin City Council and managed by the City of Literature office, the Award is a prestigious prize of €100,000 for a single work of fiction in English or translated into English. Uniquely, nominations come from public libraries in cities across the globe, showcasing and celebrating excellence in world literature before an international judging panel selects a winner. “We receive some fascinating nominations each year,” notes Clodagh.
Dublin Literary Award Winner 2026 – Ali Smith
David Malouf was the first prize winner in 1996 with Remembering Babylon. In recent years, Irish writers Mike McCormack and Anna Burns have won the award in 2018 and 2020 for Solar Bones and Milkman.
As well as the annual Dublin Literary Award, the team leads two primary reading campaigns each year.
One Dublin One Book
One Dublin One Book is a long-standing favourite in the city, running for over twenty years. Each year, a featured book connected with Dublin is chosen to anchor a wide-ranging series of events.
The initiative focuses on a single title throughout the month of April, encouraging readers across the city to pick up a copy at their local library or bookshop. Events explore a broad spectrum of themes inspired by the book – ranging from author talks and workshops to guided walking tours, fashion discussions, film screenings, and live music. All events are free, creating a unique opportunity for new audiences to engage with fiction each year.
John Banville in conversation with Donal Fallon
Over the twenty years of the One Dublin One Book programme, the team has chosen a varied selection ranging from older titles such as Strumpet City by James Plunkett or Bram Stoker’s Dracula. In more recent times, books by female authors and debut & emerging novelists such as Snowflake by Louise Nealon or Leonard and Hungry Paul by Ronan Hession have been selected to promote new writing and new perspectives of contemporary Dublin.
“We are open to suggestions and ask for input from our libraries and literary partners in the city,” Clodagh explains. “We then select a title through a reading panel of library staff. We try to have a work that is set around Dublin, and the book needs to have content that we can programme events around. John Banville’s Christine Falls in 2026 was a wonderful selection, as we could delve into 1950s Dublin through pathology and forensics, maternity care, women’s lives, religious devotion, architecture and much more.”
The City Wide Read is a programme for children and teens. Like One Dublin One Book, it focuses on one or two titles each year, running workshops and events with schools to promote reading for pleasure.
Supporting the City’s Current Writers and Readers
Programmes support writers and readers across the city. Budget from Dublin City Council also helps support literary events, publications, organisations and groups through a small grants scheme.
The team works with the Irish Writers Centre to support their national Mentoring Programme, offering opportunities for emerging writers to meet with experienced writer-mentors who offer creative feedback and advice.
A new event supported last year, and which is returning this year, is the Dublin Small Press Fair, a two-day fair celebrating small-scale publishing in Ireland and from abroad, connecting and celebrating literary magazines, small publishers, writers, bookmakers and readers.
Cormac MacGearailt at Slamovision 2025
Dublin also enjoys participating in Slamovision, the Cities of Literature spoken word poetry competition, each year. It’s like a global Eurovision of Slam Poetry! Dublin’s Cormac MacGearailt won in 2024, and Dublin hosted the competition in 2025, featuring 17 poets from Melbourne to Reykjavik performing to a live audience at Dublin Book Festival.
