As the time to apply for the ‘City of Literature’ status is drawing near, the Kozhikode Corporation has almost finalised the proposal to be submitted to UNESCO in this regard.
The Corporation is in the process of garnering the support of the Union government. Union Minister V. Muraleedharan, in a recent meeting with the Corporation authorities, had extended his support for the endeavour, which would give Kozhikode a special place in the globe.
UNESCO started awarding ‘City of Literature’ tags in 2004, Edinburgh in the United Kingdom being the first city to get the title. So far, 39 cities across the globe have earned the title. The number of institutions taking care of literary life in the city, its ability and experience to organise different kinds of literary events, and an appropriate level of literary education, besides quality, quantity, and diversity of literary activities are key for any city to be awarded the status.
It was in late 2021 that Kerala Institute of Local Administration (KILA) proposed that Kozhikode be chosen as ‘City of Literature’, as part of its plan to develop six cities in the State as ‘Creative Cities’. Kozhikode Corporation soon sprung into action and contacted the authorities of Prague in Czech Republic, which had bagged the status in 2014.
Ludmila Kolouchova, a research scholar from Prague University, came down to Kozhikode and studied the possibilities of the city if it applied for the status. In her preliminary study she found that Kozhikode had more than 500 libraries and over 70 publishers that provided the city a firm ground to apply. Being a permanent venue for the annual Kerala Literature Festival, and hosting several book fests has added value to the city’s claim.
Recently, the students of Architecture and Planning from National Institute of Technology, Kozhikode, conducted a study on the possibilities, a report that was submitted before the Union Minister. The Corporation also requested him to be one of the patrons of the project of which the Chief Minister of the State will be the chief patron.
If all goes well, Kozhikode will soon be the first ‘City of Literature’ in the country.
