UNESCO picks Colombia’s Medellin as World Book Capital for 2027

• The UNESCO has designated Medellin, Colombia, as the World Book Capital for 2027. 

• As Colombia’s second-largest city, Medellín is home to over 110 bookstores and 25 libraries, many of which were transformed from former prisons and police facilities. 

• The city saw a 542 per cent rise in bookstores over the past seven decades, leading the country’s national reading index. 

• Once affected by prolonged periods of conflict, the city is now internationally known for urban and cultural innovation, where books and libraries serve as essential sanctuaries and spaces for resistance.

• The designation follows the recommendation of the World Book Capital Advisory Committee, composed of booksellers, publishers and authors.

• As the twenty-seventh city to bear the title since 2001, Medellín will host a series of activities to strengthen the city’s public policy on reading, writing and storytelling. 

• The yearlong celebrations will start on April 23, 2027, World Book and Copyright Day.

• For 2026, Rabat (Morocco) has been designated as World Book Capital.

World Book Capitals

• UNESCO’s World Book Capitals are committed to promoting books and reading for all, and to advancing the values of dialogue, creativity, education and cultural diversity, with particular attention to young people and vulnerable communities. 

• It also reaffirms the vital role of books as catalysts for more inclusive, equitable and peaceful societies.

• The initiative is part of UNESCO’s broader efforts to strengthen reading ecosystems and literacy worldwide. 

• For example, the ‘Centroamerica Lectora’ project, funded by AECID from 2020-2023, helped expand access to books and reading in El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua, as well as strengthening their publishing ecosystems. 

• In Ethiopia, another project funded through the International Fund for Cultural Diversity (IFCD) is currently focusing on enhancing the growth of children’s and youth’s literature. 

• Cities designated as UNESCO World Book Capital undertake to promote books and reading for all ages and groups, within and across national borders, and to organize a programme of activities for the year.

List of World Book Capitals:

• Madrid (2001)

• Alexandria (2002)

• New Delhi (2003)

• Antwerp (2004)

• Montreal (2005)

• Turin (2006)

• Bogota (2007)

• Amsterdam (2008)

• Beirut (2009)

• Ljubljana (2010)

• Buenos Aires (2011)

• Erevan (2012)

• Bangkok (2013)

• Port Harcourt (2014)

• Incheon (2015)

• Wroclaw (2016)

• Conakry (2017)

• Athens (2018)

• Sharjah (2019)

• Kuala Lumpur (2020)

• Tbilisi (2021)

• Guadalajara (2022)

• Accra (2023)

• Strasbourg (2024)

• Rio de Janeiro (2025)

• Rabat (2026).