The pretty and fine city of Norwich, in the east of England, has been declared the first UNESCO City of Literature. In this way, the city joins a line of other important literary cities in the world such as Edinburgh, Melbourne, Iowa, Dublin and Reijkyavik.

Norwich has a profound literary tradition that goes back to the Middle Ages, when mystic Julian of Norwich wrote the first book written by a woman in English. Norwich also has the first provincial library, opened in 1608 and was the first city to adopt the Library Act in 1850.

But Norwich is best known for hosting the university of East Anglia, where the first Master in Creative Writing, with Ian McEwan among its honorable first graduates. The MA in Creative Writing at the UEA is one of the top (if not the top) departments for studying creative writing. Its reputation and excellence is proved by its long list of world famous writers who have pursued their studies there, such as Kazuo Ishiguro, Nobel laureate Kenzaburo Oe, Ray Bradbury of Ian McEwan.