Durban has become Africa’s first official Unesco City of Literature. The city joins 20 other cities of literature around the world that include Reykjavík in Iceland‚ Dublin in Ireland and Milan in Italy. Durban-based writer ZP Dala‚ who helped spearhead the initiative‚ said a representative committee had been working on the concept for more than a year. "I was selected last year to take part in the United Nations of Writers residency programme in the US. This is how the idea of making Durban a city of literature arose and it is where we gained the mentorship of Iowa city‚ itself a city of literature‚" she said. Durban’s mayor, Zandile Gumede, will make an official announcement and appoint a board to run the initiative within the next few days. The Unesco programme was launched in 2004‚ when Edinburgh became the world’s first city of literature. The growing network of cities aims to encourage literary exchanges‚ creating cross-cultural initiatives and developing local‚ national and i...
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