Durban Has Finally Been Recognised As A Unesco World City Of Literature

Huffington Post South Africa
By Garreth Van Niekerk

Photo: Thanks to Brittle Paper

Durban – the home of literary greats like Alan Paton, Imraan Coovadia, Gcina Mhlophe, Bessie Head and Mazisi Kunene (the first poet laureate in South Africa) – has finally been recognised for its literary contribution to the African continent, and the globe.

Unesco has designated the coastal city as an officially recognised — and now protected — Unesco World City of Literature, the first city on the African continent to be designated with the prestigious title.

“This is big. In a sense it means that Durban becomes the literary capital of Africa, the literary gateway to Africa. Everything that the city plans from now, literature must be at its heart. It must define the city,” says Darryl David, former head of Afrikaans at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, who headed Durban’s bid for Unesco City of Literature status.

Durban’s recognition is part of Unesco’s Creative Cities Network programme, which intends to “promote the social, economic and cultural development of cities in both the developed and the developing world,” it says.

Now, the city needs to… continue reading.