At a function organised in the city, the bid document for the coveted title to be placed before the UNESCO was officially released.

The document, released in the presence of the city’s eminent literary personalities like Nabaneeta Dev Sen, Nabarun Bhattacharya, Bani Basu, and the trustee of Edinburgh City of Literature, Roy Cross, has been prepared by Prof Swapan Chakravorty of the Jadavpur University.

“The document is a truly collaborative and consultative process that fuses together a wealth of diverse inputs from the custodians of Kolkata’s literary heritage. It represents all the city’s stakeholders,” said Sujata Sen, Director, British Council, East India.

The release of the document was preceded by the screening of a short film, which will also be sent along the document. The film, which captures the literary spirit of Kolkata’s social strata, has been prepared by the city’s two young filmmakers, Tanaji Dasgupta and Soumyak Kanti De Biswas.

Edinburgh is the only city to have secured the World City of Literature title in 2004. British Council, Scotland, has been in dialogue with their counterparts in Kolkata to assist in the process.