Lit City writes to world
Kelsey Beltramea - The Daily Iowan
Issue date: 12/20/07 Section: Metro
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Led by International Writing Program Director Christopher Merrill, officials submitted a dossier to apply for international accolade as a City of Literature from the U.N. Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization, which would also add Iowa City to a growing international network of renowned, creative communities.
"This is the culmination of two years of work, and more than anything, this is the culmination of our effort to inventory what literary riches there are in Iowa City," Merrill said. "Now that we've done that and seen just how rich the city is in creative talent, we've recognized that it could be the cornerstone of larger collaborations between us and other creative cities."
The nearly 80-page application, which enumerates and chronicles Iowa City's vast literary resources, is the product of hundreds of hours of work by dozens of individuals, Merrill said - all of which began after a UI employee stumbled upon a website.
Hugh Ferrer, an IWP associate director, was surfing from site to site when he ambled onto the webpage for UNESCO's Creative Cities Network in 2005. The network was launched just a year earlier to recognize cities with creative pedigrees in order to promote cultural development of communities worldwide. UNESCO offers distinctions for cities established in literature, cinema, music, folk art crafts, design, media arts, and gastronomy.
When Ferrer read the description, he knew Iowa City belonged. The task, then, was to document just how endemic literature is in this town.
"It's thought of at the civic level, at a local level, at the university level," Ferrer said. "People visit here for it, come here to study it, move here for it, retire here for it. It's on the sidewalks, in the grad programs, in the summer writing festivals. And on and on and on."
So, already working on former Provost Michael Hogan's charge to document and develop synergies among UI programs, the IWP officials set out to compose indices of the entire city's literary activities. They catalogued writing programs, famous alumni, independent presses, and reading series, while also trying to define the significance of the city's creative economy.
The first-ever analysis of the Iowa Cultural Corridor by D.C.-based nonprofit Americans for the Arts found that local nonprofit arts organizations support 1,968 full-time equivalent jobs, generating roughly $63 million in annual spending and $6 million in local and state government tax revenue.
Josh Schamberger, the president of the Iowa City/Coralville Convention and Visitors Bureau, said the area certainly benefits from visitors exploring Iowa City's literary heritage.
"I'm not overstating it when I say that Iowa City is truly recognized all over the world as a leader in literature," Schamberger said.
If selected, Iowa City would be the second city in the world to hold such an appellation for literature.
Edinburgh, Scotland - which is roughly seven times the population of Iowa City - earned the first City of Literature title in 2004 for its rich writing tradition and famed festival celebrations.
Since then, Edinburgh has been instrumental in blazing the trail for other towns interested in achieving Creative City status, Merrill said. Other cities in the process of compiling bids for the City of Literature designation include Dublin, Ireland; Kolkata, India; Melbourne, Australia; and Vancouver, Canada.
Merrill has visited the capital city to talk with his Scottish counterpart about assembling the best dossier, and the two project managers have also speculated on how the cities could collaborate with writer exchanges and literary projects that span an ocean.
Edinburgh's efforts to expend and brand itself with the distinction, from establishing a voluntary board of trustees to creating the domain cityofliterature.com, are also things Iowa City could look to mirror, Schamberger said.
"Iowa City is already so prideful of its rich literary tradition and history, and I believe that we could see the community's branding efforts wrap around this literary designation," he said.
Iowa City Mayor Ross Wilburn said the potential designation "opens up possibilities for tourism and cultural exchange for people throughout the world to recognize Iowa City as a destination point for literature."
Only one U.S. city is a member of the elite network of creative cities. Santa Fe, N.M., was recognized for excellence in both folk art and design in 2005. City official Tom Maguire said at first, it seemed as if UNESCO was "simply stating the obvious in our minds" by recognizing the home of the world's largest folk art market.
"But the distinction has also given us the opportunity to project that image to the world and use it as a springboard to really take on a leadership role," said Maguire, who is Santa Fe's senior planner for culture and heritage tourism. Next fall, the town of around 70,000 people will host an international conference on creative tourism - a conference Merrill hopes to attend.
First, the IWP director will travel to Paris on Jan. 24 to formally present Iowa City's application before the UNESCO board. It will make its decision by next March. Merrill and others at the IWP are already familiar with the wealth the city can showcase to the rest of the world.
"We are a city of literature," Ferrer said. "We're a city that treasures the written word, that uplifts it and holds it up for others to see. We're a city that refines it, treasures it in every single way, and furthers literature to make sure it keeps going."
Then would securing this title mean that much more?
Ferrer laughed, then said, "It definitely doesn't hurt anyone's feelings to be internationally recognized for something everyone locally already knows."
E-mail DI reporter Kelsey Beltramea at:
kelsey-beltramea@uiowa.edu
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