Emma Neale is performing a quiet little ''Janet Frame dance'' to celebrate Dunedin being named a Unesco City of Literature.
I want to publicly congratulate Mayor Dave Cull, and Bernie Hawke, Liz Knowles, Annie Villiers and Noel Waite, the steering committee for Dunedin's successful Unesco City of Literature bid.
The success of the bid asserts how strong Dunedin's literary and cultural heritage is, and acknowledges how hard the city works to preserve and build upon its past.
One of the most striking things about working in the arts in Dunedin is how supportive practitioners here are of each other.
The bid in itself demonstrated that: academics, librarians, writers, editors, publishers and councillors have all had to pull together - which surely is evidence of a cohesive and collaborative city.
The Otago Daily Times itself is part of that, given it's New Zealand's oldest independent newspaper, publishes southern poetry, and also book reviews which are often the envy of other centres.
When I start to tot up how many different ways Dunedin celebrates, supports and embraces a literary culture, a pretty festive feeling breaks out. Not only do we have historical ties to writers such as Charles Brasch, Janet Frame, Ruth Dallas and James K. Baxter, but a city that offers fellowships, residencies, awards, a vibrant live poetry scene, the writers' and readers' hub of the University Bookshop; the high quality libraries; high library patronage; the Centre for the Book; the Fortune Theatre, which actively supports new scripts; Otago University Press, Landfall, Deep South; the active branch of the New Zealand Society of Authors; the support of science communication and storytelling through the NHNZ and the Department of Science Communication at Otago; the support of creative writing in the English Department, the new Dunedin Readers and Writers Festival ...
The Unesco status should lead to even greater vibrancy, as now it will become a more conscious part of our civic and educational duty to celebrate and foster creative writing at all educational levels.
It should attract more attention, more funding, more interest, and so refuel the creative engines.
It's already given several different creative ventures a boost: affirmation and recognition energises the drive to widen audiences and take essential risks in the creative process.
It reminds writers and readers how vital it is that we tell and hear our own stories.
It encourages groups to hone their online presence, to actively share information and network with other creative people.
Here at my keyboard, I do a quiet little ''Janet Frame dance'' to celebrate the committee that has put so many unpaid voluntary hours into this bid, and kept local writers consistently informed.
Emma Neale is a Dunedin-based writer, editor and former Burns Fellow.
