UNESCO city of literature

Lillehammer’s status as a UNESCO city of literature highlights its long-standing position in Norwegian literary history and reflects the city's ambitions for further development as an international literary hub. The poets’ homes, Aulestad and Bjerkebæk, are key landmarks in this literary city.

An important city for writers

Lillehammer’s history as a city of artists dates back to the 1870s when the first colonies of painters settled there. Around the same time, Nobel Prize-winning author Bjørnstjerne Bjørnson moved to Aulestad in Gausdal, where he lived for 35 years. In 1919, Sigrid Undset moved to Bjerkebæk with her two children. Here she wrote her Nobel Prize-winning trilogy about Kristin Lavransdatter. Since then, many Norwegian authors have lived and worked in the city, further cementing Lillehammer’s literary legacy.

A power center of Culture and Ideas

The Nansen School was established in Lillehammer just before World War II and has since become a hub for debate, philosophy, and the art of writing. Today, Lillehammer is both a safe haven for persecuted writers and home to The Norwegian Film School as well as The Norwegian Festival of Literature – the Sigrid Undset Days, the largest literary festival in the Nordic region.

A city with a unique position

The UNESCO Creative Cities Network (UCCN) was founded in 2004 and now includes 246 cities worldwide, each with a unique position in the cultural landscape. These cities prioritize creative industries as a key part of their future development.