The Edinburgh World Writers' Conference - Cultural, Creative and Economic Benefits

Narrative

As a consequence of individual and collaborative research on the 1962 International Writers’ Conference, Drs Eleanor Bell and Angela Bartie (History) contacted the Director of the Edinburgh International Book Festival in 2010 with the idea of marking the 50th anniversary of this famous literary event. Acting as academic advisors to the project over three years, the work of Bell and Bartie has been publicly acknowledged as providing the spark of inspiration for the establishment of Edinburgh World Writers’ Conference 2012-2013, a hugely successful series of worldwide events visiting 15 countries, the global discussion representing ‘the greatest gathering of writers’ voices ever staged’. Impact can be traced through three main channels: the cultural benefits to audiences in each host city (and worldwide via social media), the creative benefits to the writers directly involved (262 to date in July 2013), and the economic benefits to UK society and other host countries around the world.

Impact status	Open
Category of impact	Culture and creativity, Economic and commerce