A Tale of Two Cities of Literature: Toponymic Identity and the Promotion of Edinburgh and Melbourne in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network

In October 2004, the Scottish capital city Edinburgh was declared the first UNESCO City of Literature. Melbourne followed suit in August 2008. Since then Iowa City (November 2008), Dublin (2010) and Reykjavík (2011) have also joined the ranks. The City of Literature status is one strand of UNESCO’s Creative Cities Network, which is intended to reward certain cities as major centres of cultural production with a permanently recognisable brand marque. This paper seeks to explore the impetus behind the Creative Cities Network, with particular emphasis on the involvement of Edinburgh and Melbourne in the Literature sphere. These two cities have particular similarities in hosting community and international festivals; they have comparable positions in the political matrix, and well-established rivalries with other national cities (e.g. Glasgow and Sydney).

With Edinburgh having been a City of Literature for seven years, and Melbourne three years, the timing is right to undertake an investigation into the toponymic identity and dependence which are being formed with and by the names Edinburgh and Melbourne in conjunction with the Creative Cities Network initiative. Essentially, the stage is now set to begin asking how Creative Cities Network branding can add to the identity and the toponymicons of Edinburgh and Melbourne and what the place names themselves can add to the city “brand”?