Guadalajara named World Book Capital for 2022

Guadalajara (Mexico) was named World Book Capital for the year 2022 by the Director-General of UNESCO, Audrey Azoulay, on the recommendation of the World Book Capital Advisory Committee.

The city, already a UNESCO Creative City since 2017, was selected for its comprehensive plan for policies around the book to trigger social change, combat violence and build a culture of peace.

Guadalajara’s proposed programme focuses on three strategic axes: regaining public spaces through reading activities in parks and other accessible places; social bonding and cohesion especially though reading and writing workshops for children; and strengthening of neighbourhood identity using intergenerational connections, story-telling and street poetry. As a UNESCO Creative City of Media Arts Guadalajara has supported its local talents and advancing creative industries through initiatives that places media arts at the core of their programmes including in its world-famous International Book Fair. The city will further make use of its cultural assets such as libraries, reading rooms, bookstores, independent publishing houses, to improve violence-prevention policies. These resources will be leveraged to advance human rights, gender equality and the culture of peace among members of the public and harness the great potential of books to contribute to social transformation. Activities will include literary events in collaboration with Latin-American writers, an artistic project on the Tower of Babel, events linking theatre and music to literature and the use of local radio for poetry readings. The year of celebrations will start on 23 April, 2022, on World Book and Copyright Day. This year, Tbilisi (Georgia) is the World Book Capital and the year of celebrations will start on 23 April 2021, on the World Book and Copyright Day.