The Talking Cities Project
The Talking Cities Project celebrates young people from around the world, connecting them with a pen pal from another city of literature!
As a UNESCO City of Literature, we are connected to 62 other cities. Why not use that network to speak to other young writers? We can learn from our creative peers, understand what life is like in a different city, and grow as a creative. Communicating across countries and continents – that is what the Talking Cities Project is about. We want to champion young people and give them access to the incredible Creative Cities Network that we as a City of Literature are privileged to have access to!
Write, learn, grow, share; this is an opportunity for participants to speak to another young creative. Whether they simply want to learn about life in another creative city or get feedback on their writing, this opportunity is whatever they make it. We want to bring back the written word and send our scribbles all over the globe!
Spearheaded by our Youth Advisory Board, and led by Youth Board Chair Mia Hagues, the project is one of the largest reaching within the network. Connecting 75 participants, 15 UNESCO Cities of Literature, 12 countries, and 4 continents, this project is taking young voices global!
The cities participating in the Talking Cities Project are:
- Nottingham, UK
- Norwich, UK
- Bremen, Germany
- Heidelberg, Germany
- Iowa City, USA
- Melbourne, Australia
- Gdansk, Poland
- Slemani, Iraq
- Hobart, Tasmania
- Lillehammer, Norway
- Jakarta, Indonesia
- Quebec City, Canada
- Tukums, Latvia
- Leeuwarden, Netherlands
- Kozhikode, India
The Talking Cities Roundtables
On Monday 24th August, the Talking Cities Project invited all participants to take part in virtual roundtable events. These were a chance for participants to experience the full scope of the project, meet others beyond their pen pal, and help build a global community of young people from cities of literature!
The roundtables were organised by timezone, and hosted by Youth Advisory Board Chair Mia Hagues. The first roundtable, held at 10am UK time, welcomed participants from Heidelberg, Gdansk, Tukums, Kozhikode, Jakarta, Melbourne, Hobart, and Nottingham while the second roundtable, held at 5pm UK time, welcomed participants from Iowa, Quebec, Norwich, Bremen, Lillehammer, Leeuwarden, Slemani, and Nottingham.
Participants spent the first half of the roundtable hearing about the work of the Youth Advisory Board and being introduced to its members, before spending the second half of the session in smaller workshop groups. Each workshop was facilitated by a different Youth Advisory Board member, and encouraged participants to get involved in a way that appealed to them. The three workshops offered were:
- A collaborative poem workshop led by Mia Hagues and supported by Henry Lambert.
- A culture discussion workshop led by Aarya Handa and supported by Shalmika Sivakumar
- A sharing and feedback workshop led by Jennifer Rajasekar and supported by NCoL staff member Claire Bradnam
At the end of the roundtables, participants came back together to share what they had discussed in the workshops and celebrate everyone’s creativity. It was a time of cultural collaboration and connection, giving participants a glimpse into the wider creative cities network and an opportunity to learn from their creative peers.
You can read more about what was produced in the roundtables below!
