In the organizer's words:

For centuries, writers have come to London from across Europe. Their encounters with the city – squalid slums of the East End, in the glitter and glamour of Belgravia, in the unspoilt expanse of Hampstead Heath – have left a mark: on the writer, on their work and, sometimes, on London itself. The exhibition uncovers these literary traces, revealing London and a Europe of the imagination. It is based on an interactive online map curated by the UCL European Institute, the Faculty of Arts and Humanities, and UCL Centre for Advanced Spatial Analysis. Come and explore London through thematically arranged texts in over 25 languages, as a place where people, cultures and languages meet and are transformed.