Melbourne - UNESCO City of Literature

Melbourne became a UNESCO City of Literature in August 2008, in recognition of a rich history of local literary culture and creative talent.

Discover what makes Melbourne a world literary capital, and explore our best haunts for book-lovers.

Literary festivals
Melbourne hosts major literary events including Melbourne Writers' Festival, Overload Poetry Festival, the Alfred Deakin Innovation Lectures, and the Emerging Writers' Festival. Other literary festivals and celebrations also take place throughout the year in towns across Victoria. See our regional events pages for details.

State Library of Victoria
Melbourne is home to the State Library of Victoria – the state's oldest publicly funded cultural institution and the oldest free public library in Australia. The library is also home to the Centre for Youth Literature, producing events and a website for young readers and writers.

Centre for Books, Writing and Ideas
The new Centre for Books, Writing and Ideas is a hub for writing and literature and will house the Victorian Writers' Centre and other key literary organisations.

Literary laneways
Many twenty-first century writers work in Melbourne's inner city, retreating to rooms above the streets and laneways. You'll find lots of space for writers and readers in the Flinders Lane precinct bounded by Swanston and Elizabeth streets. The Victorian Writers' Centre, Collected Works Bookshop, Aboriginal Literacy Foundation, Centre for Adult Education, Letterbox, and City Library are all here.

Publishers
Multinational publishers like Penguin and Lonely Planet lead the local industry, joined by independents Text Publishing, Hardie Grant, Black Inc., Melbourne University Publishing, Scribe Publications, and other small presses and tiny publishers of books, journals and magazines.

Famous authors
Some of the world's most famous writers have called Melbourne home. Immigrant artists, writers and poets, were drawn to Melbourne's early bohemian restaurants and bookshops. They planted the seeds for a vibrant cultural and intellectual community.

Famous 19th-century novelist Marcus Clarke, poets C.J. Dennis and Dorothy Porter, twice Booker Prize winner Peter Carey and two-times Miles Franklin award winner Alex Miller have earned recognition locally and abroad. Other literary Melbournians include Germaine Greer, Raimond Gaita, Helen Garner, Shane Maloney, and Henry Handel Richardson (Ethel Richardson).