Read all about it: Edinburgh left in shade by Melbourne millions

Published on Thursday 13 November 2008 20:21

IT IS a tale of two Cities of Literature, and not a happy one for Scotland's capital. One, Melbourne, is investing more than £8 million in promoting its literary culture: the other, Edinburgh, currently has an annual budget of just over £170,000.

Four years ago, Edinburgh blazed a trail as the world's first City of Literature, as designated by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (Unesco). Melbourne recently became the second, and cities around the world are bidding to join a network of literary capitals.

This week, Melbourne hosted a debate, "A tale of two cities: Edinburgh and Melbourne, Unesco Cities of Literature", and it quickly emerged that Melbourne's plans had put Edinburgh's entirely in the shade.

Melbourne won the Unesco designation only in August, but is investing millions in a new Centre for Books, Writing and Ideas, with a planned 1,000 annual events for 100,000 visitors a year. Most of the A$19.3million (8.4 million) provided by the State of Victoria was invested in the new literary hub – but there is also a budget of A$7.1million for public programmes and events.

In the past four years, by comparison, the activities of Edinburgh's City of Literature Trust have centred mostly on two city-wide reading drives – distributing first tens of thousands of copies of Robert Louis Stevenson's Kidnapped, followed by his Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde.

In the Melbourne debate, representatives from the trust could only voice the hope that the huge state funding and support of Melbourne's campaign should spur the Scottish Government into increasing its budget.

Alison Bowden, director of the Edinburgh Unesco City of Literature Trust – with only two full-time staff – said the energy of the Australians had put Edinburgh to shame. "Yes, come on Scotland: please up the ante!" she said. "This is an inspiration for them in terms of state funding."

For decades, Unesco has rolled out its list of World Heritage sites deserving international protection. Four years ago, however, the leaders of Edinburgh's literary scene headed to Paris, with their sights set on a new designation. Armed with a two-volume dossier on Edinburgh's literary history and aspirations, from Sir Walter Scott to Irvine Welsh, they won their case.

Patricia Ferguson, the then culture minister, declared :"This confirms Scotland's position as a country of literary excellence."

Some critics were underwhelmed. They called it laughable that Edinburgh should lead London, Dublin or New York as a literary city, or derided Unesco as a moribund bureaucracy, dismissing the title was a waste of time and money.

The media has had a field day recently with Lord Provost George Grubb's planned trip to India with his wife, as guests of the Kolkata Book Fair, along with an unknown number of Edinburgh city council officials. It has been lampooned as a wasteful business-class jolly in a time of economic austerity.

But City of Literature supporters cite the ties built up with the Indian city. Scotland is the guest of honour at the book fair, the largest in Asia, with pavilions for Scottish exhibits, and India is a growing tourism market.

The funding disparity between Edinburgh and Melbourne surely begs the question of whether the Scottish capital aspires to stand with other global cities or settles for being a regional, or provincial player.

Catherine Lockerbie, the director of the Edinburgh International Book Festival, has doggedly supported the City of Literature project from the start.

She cites the poetry garden project in St Andrew Square, the writer-in-residence programme at Saughton prison, and walking trails, including one for Alexander McCall Smith's novels. Next year brings a joint reading drive with Bristol and Glasgow of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World.

It was always the plan for Edinburgh to be part of a network, she said, with Kolkata, Iowa, Dublin, Vancouver and others now keen to join. "They clearly see the designation we pioneered here in Edinburgh can bring them such advantage that they are willing to invest in it," she said. "They don't see it as a tokenistic, tourist designation.

"When it becomes clear how other cities see this, amid many competing financial priorities, my hope is some of that example will filter back to the place where it has started."

Ms Bowden's fact-finding trip to Melbourne, with 15 other literary representatives from Edinburgh, Glasgow and the north of England, was funded by Greater North, a Scottish Arts Council and Arts Council of England initiative.

The Melbourne event aimed to discuss whether the city should prioritise local writers or promote international literature, and also featured the premiere of a short promotional film about Edinburgh's City of Literature. It featured Iain Banks among Edinburgh's writers and got a mixed reception.

The value of giving out free books was dismissed by one of the Melbourne panel of experts. Mark Rubbo, managing director of the local Readings bookselling chain, said: "We have tried free books. You have to get authors and funding and a book that's attractive and people still might not read it. We had hundreds left and we ended up throwing them away."

Carrie Tiffany, a British-born author shortlisted for the Orange prize, suggested the choice of free books could be more modern than two Robert Louis Stevenson novels and one by Arthur Conan Doyle.

There was some scepticism in Melbourne that the Unesco title means little, even after the big investment, if the sports-mad, casino-going general public didn't buy into it. Award-winning author Elliot Perlman said: "If we bask in the glory of the description but do nothing with it, Melbourne will be quick to mock it as grandiose but ultimately hollow."

But Lynne Kosky, Victoria's arts minister, said: "Melbourne is renowned as a cultural centre, (and] the designation strengthens this reputation, raising the city's international profile and providing a springboard to the international network of creative cities. It is expected that the designation will have economic as well as cultural benefits for the state."