On October 31, 2023, UNESCO made official what had long been clear in Bremen even without this title: Bremen is a city of literature, Bremen is a “City of Literature”.

We at globale° – Festival for Cross-Border Literature are delighted to receive this award. It is a great award and confirmation, not only for our work, but also for the work of the broad literary scene in Bremen and the many other committed festivals in Bremen.

To date, only 42 cities worldwide have been awarded the UNESCO City of Literature title, with only two cities in Germany – Heidelberg and now Bremen.

As a festival for cross-border literature, we have been committed to the worldwide networking of literature and culture for years. We see Bremen’s membership of the “Creative Cities” network as an opportunity to further expand our activities in this area and are all the more looking forward to working together in the future. One thing is clear: Bremen is now also a place of culture, a place of literature, in the long term.

We would like to thank all our partners and friends inside and outside Bremen who have worked hard for Bremen as a literary location for years and have made this award possible.

Being awarded the title of “City of Literature” is something special and that’s not the only reason why we wanted to talk about the importance of the “Creative Cities” network directly at globale° 2023. We have invited representatives of the “Cities of literature” from twelve different cities around the world to Bremen. They were guests in the Hanseatic city on the main weekend of globale° 2023.