Dublin is a City of Literature where creativity, and especially writing and words in all forms – prose, poetry, playwriting and song writing – are valued and celebrated. The city was home to four Nobel Prize Laureates for Literature. Its literary influence has spread to the four corners of the world: Bloomsday, commemorating the life of James Joyce, is celebrated as far away as Melbourne and St. Petersburg, Oscar Wilde Societies exist around the world and one of the world’s most familiar literary characters, Dracula, was created by Irish author Bram Stoker.
Literature and literary culture are nurtured in the city, which hosts the International Impac Dublin Literary Award, the world’s most well-endowed prize for a single novel. It is also home to the Dublin Theatre Festival, the oldest of its kind in the world. Writers are appreciated in this city, which has named three bridges and numerous streets after writers. The Dublin airport is adorned with writers’ images and quotes that accompany people on their travels, and the city is also home to a ferry company that names its ships after writers.