Port cities have always played a crucial role in the cultural development of regions and countries. Gateways to the wider world and centres of trade and industry, they have attracted people from different backgrounds and facilitated the exchange of not only goods but also of ideas. The Sealines Project links six European port cities with a tradition of literary bilingualism through a series of writers’ and artists’ residencies. The cities involved are four capitals: Cardiff, Helsinki, Riga and Valletta, and two regional ports: Galway on the West Coast of Ireland and Koper (Capodistria) on the Slovenian coast.

Cross-Border Art Project in the Middle East

Alexandria Library Contemporary European Book Collection Project

Literature Across Frontiers is starting the European Union’s Year of Intercultural Dialogue - 2008, with a landmark exchange of literary culture between Europe and the Arab world. Books from all over Europe are being donated to the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Egypt’s ambitious and extensive library.