Under the UNESCO Cities of Literature umbrella, Dunedin UNESCO City of Literature took the opportunity to contribute to the project Caring for Each Other is a Human Right. Launched by Slemani, a city in Iraq, that became a UNESCO City of Literature in 2019. They called for written works of optimism and positivity to help people cope during the global COVID-19 pandemic. These were available online and a book gifted to participants as a permanent record of this creative collaboration.

Dunedin shared the beautiful poem Otago Harbour by Jilly O’Brien.

Otago Harbour

Tonight is quiet water

gentle hands and walking feet

under pāua shell skies

shimmer dimmed

after many rinses of the tide

left to lie, resting

over Hereweka

towards the ocean side

keeping hands and feet to self

waves stand still or so it seems

holding off until

hoiho stumbles home

matuku settles himself

kawau says ‘Let us pray’

Ko te rā māeneene

Ā te rāhui Takaroa

We should rest

We should rest

*Whakataukī (Māori proverb) taken from Earth, sea, sky: images and Māori proverbs from the natural world of Aotearoa New Zealand by Patricia and Waiariki Grace