Community, in Nipaluna (Hobart), began in the quiet places: in the whisperings of the rivulets that feed into timtumili minanya (River Derwent), in the foothills of kunanyi\/Mt Wellington, and in the stories the Palawa (Tasmanian Aboriginal) people have carried across millennia. Stories spoken, sung, danced; stories held in stone and tide; stories written in sky country. Through palawa kani, these stories rise again, reminding us that literature begins not on the page, but in the body, in memory, in the country itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hobart has always been a city of storytellers, from the first fiction printed on this island to the early libraries and free press that shaped its colonial voice. Today, writers of every kind walk these streets: award-winners and quiet scribblers, poets of the margins, readers who gather in bookshops, parks and public street libraries, and publishers who promote new voices. The city hums with stories in every crevice.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
And yet, beneath this vibrancy lies a truth: Tasmania carries one of the highest rates of low literacy in the nation, a shadow cast by colonisation and generations of inequity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This, too, is part of our story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As a UNESCO City of Literature, community means stepping toward this paradox with purpose. It means widening the doorway to story, honouring Palawa knowledges, and creating spaces where every voice \u2013 fluent, emerging, oral, written, signed, sung, performed \u2013 can belong.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Our future is shaped by this community: a city of storytellers on an island of stories, where stories are lived, breathed and co-created. As part of a global network, we aim to carry Tasmanian voices across the seas and connect with storytellers everywhere. Our priorities are to uphold freedom of expression, protect and celebrate Indigenous languages, and deepen relationships with Creative Cities around the world to foster greater harmony and shared understanding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n