Gothenburg was designated a UNESCO City of Literature in 2021.

In line with this permanent commitment to work strategically with literature to promote a sustainable society in accordance with Agenda 2030, the UN’s global goals for sustainable development, Gothenburg carries out its work locally, regionally, and globally.

Three major local cultural organizations and institutions, the City of Gothenburg, the University of Gothenburg, and the Västra Götaland Region constitute the three principal partners of Gothenburg City of Literature, jointly responsible for ensuring that Gothenburg fulfils its commitments to UNESCO in the future. Together with the Gothenburg Book Fair, and literary organisations Författarcentrum Väst, and Göteborgs Litteraturhus, they form the six key partners of the City of Literature.

The denomination to be a City of Literature, encompasses both the city and the region, both carrying a rich literary history and present-day landscape (and seascape) of authors, publishing houses and cultural journals, literary associations, literary education programmes, one of the largest Book Fairs in Europe, and a wealth of public libraries – and, not least, its readers. Gothenburg is also a hub for raising issues of freedom of speech as an ICORN-city, from 2026 also hos-city for the national coordinator for ICORN in Sweden, as permanent participants at the Freedom of Expression Stage at the Gothenburg Book Fair, and not least, as initiative-takers and leaders of the Task and Finish Group for Freedom of Expression in the Unesco City of Literature network and of the ICORN/UNESCO Collaboration Initiative. As a city, Gothenburg is also home to the world-renowned V-dem institute, the Segerstedt institute, and the national coordinator for ICORN’s sister organization Scholars at Risk.