City of Literature status celebrated at Norwich reception

Wednesday, December 5, 2012
6:30 AM

Norwich’s new status as a UNESCO City of Literature was celebrated at a special reception in Norwich last night.

The reception to mark Norwich becoming UNESCO City of Literature. The Lord Mayor of Norwich, Ralph Gayton, 2nd left, joins the chief executive of the Writers Centre Norwich, Chris Gribble, left, and the chaIrman, Graham Creelman, right; with city council leader Brenda Arthur, and the Lord Lieutenant, Richard Jewson. Picture: Denise Bradley

The Lord Mayor of Norwich, Ralph Gayton, hosted the reception at Blackfriars’ Hall, in St Andrews Street, to celebrate the hard work which went in to secure the status.

Writers from Norwich and around the east of England joined the lord mayor and Brenda Arthur, leader of Norwich City Council and cabinet member with responsibility for culture, at the reception.

Norwich won its UNESCO bid in May, making it only the sixth city in the world to receive the designation, alongside Edinburgh in Scotland, Melbourne in Australia, Iowa City in the USA, Dublin in Ireland and Iceland’s capital, Reykjavik.

Chris Gribble, chief executive of Writers’ Centre Norwich, said: “I am delighted to be able to thank everyone in the city and the county who helped Norwich win this bid, including Norwich City Council, Norfolk County Council, Arts Council England, the British Centre for Literary Translation and the University of East Anglia.”