Mapping the Literary City
Manchester is bursting with literature, it’s leaping off the page and onto our streets. You can download or pick up a physical copy of the Manchester City of Literature Map in venues across the city and explore our rich literary heritage with your own two feet.
You’ll find poems on pavements, up walls and sprawling out to reach literary houses, writing schools, heritage libraries and language centres. Grab a book from one of our bookshops or libraries and head to new-found reading spots, discover local publishers, comic artists and the lively radical history of Manchester’s literature.
Manchester was designated as a City of Literature by UNESCO in 2017. It’s a permanent designation acknowledging the incredible work that goes on in historical and contemporary contexts to further the artform of literature.
It’s one of our core values as a UNESCO City of Literature to connect literary activity in the city, as well as enabling collective advocacy for Manchester’s literary community. Part of our work to do this is working with a huge partnership of literature organisations that all contribute to the ecology of literary Manchester.
Commonword’s Digital Literature Map
The interactive digital Manchester Literature Map was created by a partnership of organisations that make up Manchester City of Literature, to showcase the stories, poems, performances so closely linked to our city.
