Bridging Cities brings together writers from Exeter and Jakarta, both UNESCO Cities of Literature, to discuss the climate crisis through literature.
UNESCO Cities of Literature, part of the UNESCO Creative Cities Network programme, now includes 53 cities in 39 countries. In 2019, Exeter was named a City of Literature, becoming the only city in southern England to receive this award. Two years later, Jakarta received the same honour and is currently the only City of Literature in Southeast Asia. In 2024, the two cities collaborated through the Bridging Cities programme, specifically to address climate crisis issues through literary works.
Bridging Cities is supported by the British Council’s Connections Through Culture grant programme. The programme invited and commissioned six writers—three based in Exeter and three based in Jakarta—to create works exploring the various impacts of the climate crisis based on their personal and local experiences. The writers are Shin Alex (Jakarta), Ysella Sims (Exeter), Shoba Dewey Chugani (Jakarta), Swarnim Agrawal (Exeter), Daveenaar (Jakarta) and Dr Charles Mansfield (Exeter).
In the writing process, each writer is paired with an experienced mentor to get feedback and guidance. Each writer is also connected with writers from other cities online to have conversations, exchange ideas, and connect creatively. Bridging Cities also invited artists to respond to each piece of writing with illustrations to enrich the reading experience of each work.
Reflecting the spirit of UNESCO Cities of Literature, which aims to promote literary works and cultural diversity, Bridging Cities also translated each work into Indonesian or English to break down language or cultural barriers and make literature a shared experience and understanding.
Folklore as Inspiration
Writers in Bridging Cities incorporate local stories and environments into their short stories. Shin Alex, for example, was inspired by the Javanese folk tale of Jaka Tarub and the Seven Goddesses. While the main character in the original story is Jaka Tarub, in Alex’s story, ‘Legenda Bidadari: The True Story,’ the main character is a man named Jack and one of the seven goddesses, Nawangwulan. Both are struggling to obtain clean water when the world is hit by drought. Jack needs water for his sick mother, while Nawangwulan needs water from the earth to maintain the balance of the universe.
Shin Alex, an emerging writer born and raised in Jakarta, is passionate about writing fantasy stories for teenagers and children. ‘Legend of the Fairies: The True Story’ is set in a dystopian world ten to fifteen years after the COVID-19 pandemic. Although the setting is in the future, the story reflects the environmental issues we face today, particularly the pollution and contamination of the Ciliwung River in Indonesia.
“I chose this because whoever reads it should consider that it might happen one day, and it's not so far away,” said Alex regarding the story’s time setting. “It could lead to a shortage of water and everything that you need in the years ahead if we do not really take care of the environment.”
Ysella Sims, whose works explore the relationship between humans and nature, also draws from folklore in her story, ‘The Last Swallow.’ In the Middle Ages, swallows were said to emerge from the mud after hibernation, and they were harbingers of spring. However, in ‘The Last Swallow,’ swallows are becoming increasingly rare after once being common due to the deteriorating state of the environment and plastic-filled soil.
Sims also symbolises swallows as travellers across borders, and how humans should collaborate and find solutions, especially in the face of environmental degradation.
From Alex and Sims’ stories, readers can see how folklore contains moral values that can be adapted into literary works addressing climate issues.
