In 1995 the Unesco General Conference chose April 23 as World Book and Copyright Day. During the session, a symbolic date was identified for universal literature because the23 April 1616 Cervantes, Shakespeare and Garcilaso de la Vega, known as the Inca, disappeared. On the same day, important personalities of writing such as Maurice Druon, Halldór Kiljan Laxness, Vladimir Nabokov, Josep Pla or Manuel Mejía Vallejo were born or died.
World Book Day pays tribute to books and to authors from all over the world. An initiative created to encourage access to reading to as many people as possible. "The book represents the finest invention of sharing ideas and embodies a powerful tool to fight poverty and build lasting peace ”. All over the world millions of people celebrate with the collaboration of associations, schools, private companies and public bodies. The media are mobilized in each country through National Commissions for UNESCO, UNESCO associations, centers and clubs, networks of schools and associated libraries. Anyone who feels motivated to participate in this global celebration.
World Book and Copyright Day comes a few days after the latest report on Italian publishing. A positive trend for our country with a major recovery in the first three months of 2021 (+ 26,6%). Not only certified by the strong increase in sales through online bookstores, but also by the increase in physical bookstores (+ 18,6% as documented by the Arianna service).
World Book Day: the tradition of Spain
Many organizations propose the typical tradition of Spain. In fact, in Catalonia a rose and a book are given away to celebrate St. George, the celebrated patron saint on April 23 from 1456. The rose represents love, while the book represents culture, because the party is experienced in particular by boyfriends and lovers. The legend tells of a knight who saved the daughter of a king by killing a dragon, from whose blood a rose garden sprouted. The day of the book it was in fact conceived by the Valencian writer and publisher Vincent Claves Andres. It was celebrated for the first time in Spain by King Alfonso XIII on 7 October 1926. Since the XNUMXs, the book has become the gift with which Catalan women return the homage of a rose from their lovers.
Demonstrations in Italy
The Delegation to Italy of the Government of Catalonia has launched a project involving the Association of Libraries of Rome. On Friday 23 April, anyone who decides to buy a book by a Catalan author will receive a free gift a rose and a surprise. In Florence, however, the Catalan tradition is resumed with an iris as a gift for those who buy a book in independent bookstores. Instead of the rose, a purple iris was chosen, the flower symbol of Florence. Even the city of Forlimpopoli, awarded the title of "City that reads" last year, wanted to propose its initiative. Those who buy a book will receive a shortlist thus involving the local nurseries, with the patronage of the municipal administration.
