If your idea of holiday heaven is bound up in books, then these destinations are for you.
1. Dublin
Ireland, with a population of under five million, has produced four Nobel laureates in literature: W.B. Yeats, George Bernard Shaw, Samuel Beckett and Seamus Heaney. Indeed, the Irish have such a reputation for lyrical language and invention that there’s even a phrase for it. Someone who has ‘kissed the Blarney Stone’ is a person who has gained the gift of persuasive oratory by (metaphorically) kissing a lump of limestone set in the wall of Blarney Castle. It’s no wonder then that the art of the word runs through the capital of this land of poets and dreamers, as surely as the River Liffey.
Why not follow the footsteps of James Joyce’s character Ulysses around Dublin – starting with a naked swim in the ‘scrotum-tightening waters’ of Sandycove? If you prefer to keep your clothes on, you can visit Yeat’s Abbey Theatre for a performance. The Book of Kells is another must-see. Held in the hallowed library of Dublin’s Trinity College, just two of the four ancient, illustrated gospels are on display at any one time. And when you’ve finished in Dublin, you could take a day trip to Blarney Castle, (about 3.5 hours south of Dublin) and kiss the stone yourself, just like Winston Churchill did, for a dose of its wordpower.
2. San Francisco
City Lights Bookshop is a beacon for enlightened thought and civil rights and, housed in the flat-iron-style Artigues building between China Town and North Beach, is an official historic landmark in the neighbourhood. It was the first to receive this status in San Francisco for its business rather than its structure. Why? Founded by poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti and college professor Peter D Martin in 1953, the bookstore quickly grew a publishing arm and became a centre for social activism, especially after the obscenity trials Ferlinghetti underwent for publishing Beat poet Allen Ginsberg’s Howl and Other Poems.
Nearby, stroll down Jack Kerouac Alley and take time to read quotations from various authors and poets featured in murals and street art. Take a break in Vesuvio Café where the Beat Generation used to hang out. And then head a few blocks southwest to the Transamerica Redwood Park, where you’ll find a Mark Twain-themed fountain, complete with jumping frogs.
3. London
Top literary sites in London must include the reconstruction of Shakespeare’s Globe, where tours, performances and education events take place (you can watch some of them online). The original theatre, built in 1599 by Shakespeare’s players, The Lord Chamberlain’s Men, was destroyed by fire 14 years later. Its foundations were rediscovered beneath a car park in 1989, complete with nut shells discarded by the original audiences, and the new Globe was built about 230m away.
London is the setting for so many novels and plays it would be impossible to list them here, but themed and guided walks abound, from Sherlock Holmes’ stomping ground to paying homage to literary heroes like Christina Rosetti, George Eliot or Douglas Adams at Highgate Cemetery. After all that, you can have a pint in a pub featured in The Posthumous Papers of the Pickwick Club (or The Pickwick Papers), such as the George and Vulture, where Dickens himself frequently drank and which claims to be the tallest pub in London.
For me, the most stunning bookish site in London is the domed Reading Room set within the British Museum. A vast atrium soars all around, a rhapsody in glass, and at its heart, the circular library where Karl Marx came to study. It’s not possible to visit the Reading Room right now, but you can sit next to it in the luminous Great Court, have a coffee while reading your favourite book – and glance up at history now and then.
4. Istanbul
Second-hand bookshops, or sahaflar, are a big part of Istanbul’s literary scene, and can be discovered all over the city. In normal times, there is even a two-week annual sahaf festival and market in Beyoğlu. One of the oldest second-hand book districts is the Beyazıt Sahaflar Çarşısı, close to the historic Grand Bazaar and behind the mosque. Popular with writers since the 16th century, it’s a place where booklovers can find everything from curling paperbacks and 1960s comics to rare manuscripts and first editions.
5. Buenos Aires
There are plenty of places for bibliophiles to enjoy in Buenos Aires, from the Brutalist national library with its free guided tours, generous reading area and views of the Rio de la Plata, to El Ateneo Grand Splendid, once a theatre, now the ‘world’s most beautiful bookstore’ according to National Geographic. It even retains its private theatre boxes, where you can sample your chosen books before purchase. But perhaps the most literary thing you can do in Buenos Aires is take your notebook and try your hand at being a poet-flâneur.
Argentina’s famous literary son, Jorge Luis Borges, opened his first poetry collection (Fervour of Buenos Aires, 1923) with the lines: ‘My soul is in the streets / of Buenos Aires’. Like Borges, walk the streets. Notice the almost-hidden courtyards, the doorknockers, the slums, the faded glamour . . . and even though the city is constantly changing, you will be noticing the same things Borges notes in his story The Unworthy Friend: ‘Our image of the city is always slightly out-of-date.’
6. Tokyo
In Tokyo’s Mukojima Hyakkaen Gardens, the only surviving Edo-era flower garden, you can attend a party to watch the harvest moon and gain writerly inspiration from the 29 monuments to the world of literature, from stone-carved poetry to the hanging scrolls. South west across town, the Basho Memorial Hall lies in the Koto district where famous Edo-era haiku-poet Basho lived and wrote some of his best-loved work. Read the poetry that’s been set in stone in the garden while the Sumida River flows by.
One of my favourite authors, Haruki Murakami, has set some of his novels in Tokyo. Perhaps one day, in homage to his masterpiece The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, I will sit like character Toru outside Shinjuki district station, the busiest railway station in the world, and simply watch strangers pass by.
7. Brussels
Brussels is arguably the spiritual home of the comic book and here, as well as taking a self-guided tour of the gigantic comic-book murals painted around the city, you can visit the Belgian Comic Book Center, to learn the history of the comic book in its permanent exhibitions. The city is full of shops specialising in the comic-book form. Librairie Flagey, opposite the iconic Radio Building on Place Eugene Flagey, stocks a selection of beautiful books, posters and related items. And just half an hour away in Louvain-La-Neuve, the cleverly-designed Hergé Museum tells the story of the man who created Tintin.
8. Glasgow
Glasgow, whose name in Gaelic means the dear green place, is certainly fertile ground for booklovers and writers. Glasgow Women’s Library is the only accredited museum in the UK dedicated to the lives and histories of women. It has found a permanent home at last in the attractive Carnegie Building. Meanwhile, the city centre streets are adorned with extracts from the work of Edwin Morgan, Glasgow’s first poet laureate. And SWG3, a former Customs and Excise warehouse has been transformed into a multi-disciplinary venue where, under the arches, The Poetry Club is a hub for music, art, spoken word and performance.
9. Bangalore
Although Bangalore is probably better known as India’s Silicon Valley, it also presents a literary festival every year – India’s largest community-funded and independent gathering. Under the blossoming flame trees, in the winter sun, authors, poets, thinkers and musicians engage with audiences across a wide range of modern themes, such as culture wars, desire, and how you make a bestseller. The LitMart event enables budding authors to pitch to industry experts, with 25 finalists selected. The 9th edition of the Festival takes place from 12-13 December 2020 and will be live-streamed.
10. Athens
No list of literary locations would be complete without a mention of Athens, the cradle of European theatre. In the ancient ruins of the Acropolis, it’s still possible to visit the Theatre and Sanctuary of Dionysus, where the City Dionysia theatre festivals took place and playwright and actor Thespis (from whom we get the word ‘thespian’) performed the first tragedy in 534BC.
His reward was a goat. Your reward post-Acropolis could be a visit to Athenée, a café that used to be called Zonar’s and is not to be confused with the modern Zonar’s! Athenée (the original Zonar’s) was a legendary 20th century hang-out for actors, writers, politicians and poets. These days the name may have changed but ‘early drinks’ on a Friday, with cocktails and guest DJs will still draw you in. Unless you prefer to go back to your hotel room and snuggle with a book.
