Journalist Joep van Ruiten spoke with Ernst Bruinsma (business manager) and Berber van Oyen (marketing coordinator) of Leeuwarden City of Literature for the Leeuwarder Courant.
UNESCO City of Literature Leeuwarden is a legacy of the year that Leeuwarden and Friesland could call themselves European Capital of Culture, say Van Oyen and Bruinsma. “There was a discussion. How do you keep people here? How can you keep the high level? It was also said: the literature in Friesland must become more visible. We hardly see things. ”
The four goals of Leeuwarden as a City of Literature are discussed: professionalization, internationalization, reading promotion and innovation. “The most important thing we do is connect and inform,” says Bruinsma. “We are not a project office, nor a subsidy desk. We are a network organization. We want to help other parties, facilitate them or push them in a direction.”
Text: Leeuwarder Courant, Joep van Ruiten
Photo: Jacob van Essen
