Mapping the City - European Writers in London

For centuries, writers have come to London from across Europe, to live or visit. Their encounters with the city leave a mark: on the writer, on their work and often on London itself. To honour and record their presence, University College London (UCL) has created a unique digital map, Lost and Found: A European Literary Map of London. The map highlights the impact of past writers on the city and invites living writers to contribute and reflect on London as a destination and place where people, languages, literatures and cultures meet and are transformed.

To mark UCL's 2025 European Literary Map of London Writer in Residence, this special event features this year’s selected Writer in Residence, Ireland’s Ciara Broderick, alongside three of the shortlisted writers, Nisrine Mbarki from the Netherlands, Domas Raibys from Lithuania and Iryna Shuvalova from Ukraine.

These four exceptional writers, for whom sense of place is integral to their writing, will read from their work and discuss their relationship with London as a city of literature and cultural exchange, as well as how they propose to make their own mark on the European Literary Map of London. Which languages and literatures have had the greatest impact on London’s literary life, which are missing and why? How do contemporary writers view their European literary forebears and their influence on London? And, does London still have the draw it once had for Europe’s writers?

The event is hosted and curated by journalist and presenter Rosie Goldsmith.

Co-organised by UCL European Institute, the European Literature Network, EUNIC London and the European Parliament Liaison Office in the UK, with the support of UCL Grand Challenges, the Lithuanian Culture Institute London, the Ukrainian Institute London, the Goethe-Institut London, the Irish Embassy London and the Dutch Embassy London.

RSVP by 12 May via this link.

For further information about the event or UCL’s European Writer in Residence programme please email: contact@eurolitnetwork.com .

The European Parliament Liaison Office in the UK plays an active role in promoting European values and culture in the UK via its cultural diplomacy projects and has a proud tradition of providing space for creative discussion and cultural exchange in its 12 Star Gallery in Europe House.