Updated Tuesday, April 23, 2024 – 08:28
The festival of World Book Day if famous today Tuesday around the world.
Every April 23 since the UNESCO established this universal day in 1995, a great tribute is made to the world of literature and the publishing industry. Specifically, it is the World Book and Copyright Day.
His election had a lot to do with the fact that on that same day in 1616 two world-renowned writers died: Miguel de Cervantes y William Shakespeare.
Book Day: Its Origin
The original idea of celebrating Book Day arose from the Valencian writer and director of the Cervantes publishing house, Vicent Clavel and Andrs in 1923. Living then in Barcelona, he proposed the celebration of this day to the Official Book Chamber of Barcelona together with the Guild of Publishers and Booksellers.
Shortly after, Clavel himself sent the initiative to Madrid and, in 1926, Alfonso XIII signed a royal decree that officially created the Spanish Book Festival.
The first editions of the Spanish Book Festival took place on October 7date on which at that time it was thought that Cervantes had been born, although already in 1930 the celebrations were moved to April 23coinciding with the death of author of Don Quixote and also with the Sant Jordi festival in Barcelona.
The day in Spain has been packed with a multitude of activities these days: from the continued reading of Don Quixote, after the delivery of the Cervantes Prizeto the Sant Jordi Fair of Barcelona along with various literary activities throughout Spain.
Book Day in Madrid 2024
A Chilean typewriter Nicanor Parraland of Aracataca, birthplace of the Colombian Nobel Prize winner GabrielGarca Mrquezor some Cuban slippers Alicia Alonso can be seen in an exhibition that opened this Monday in Madrid at the Cervantes Institute with motif of the From of the Book 2024.
Manuscripts, drafts, administrative documents, new and old books, pens, glasses, diplomas, letters, photographs and drawings, folders, hats and dresses can be seen in the exhibition. The greatest wealth. Selected Legacies from the Box of Letters that will be until June 16.
Consult the program of activities of the Book Day in Madrid 2024.
Sant Jordi’s Day in Barcelona: 1.8 million books and roses
Book Day coincides in Catalonia with the patron saint’s day of Sant Jordi in which roses and books are traditionally given. In this 2024 edition of Sant Jordi the writer and actor David Walliams was the author of the official proclamation in a day that brings together the best authors of the moment fsigning books in more than 435 booths installed by the main ones in Barcelona. More than 1.8 million signatures are expected.
Consult the times and place of signatures in Sant Jordi 2024 of your favorite authors.
Book Day 2024 in Valencia
Valencia is committed to youth literature and younger trends hand in hand with the phenomenon Wattpad (social storytelling platform where users connect with their favorite writers, read and write original stories).
Book Day 2024 in Palma de Mallorca
In Palma de Mallorca, around thirty bookstores will set up stalls in the streets of the center of the Balearic capital.
Book Day 2024 in Zaragoza
Zaragoza joins the party with its traditional fair, an event that this year will feature the participation of 430 authors and the delivery of 7,200 carnations and 10,000 bookmarks.
Book Day 2024 in Murcia
Murcia has devised a GastroLiterary Meeting at the General Archive, where attendees will be able to have lunch with writers from the community while they chat about literature and gastronomy and a photographic exhibition with locations on the Murcia coast that appear in literary works of Prez-Reverte, Cervantes o Ramn J. Sender.
Book Day 2024 in Oviedo
In Oviedo, part of the activities are concentrated around the work La Regenta, by Leopoldo Alas Clarín, on the occasion of the 140th anniversary of the publication of this novel.
On the other hand, the Museum of Fine Arts of Asturias has organized several open days to show its library, which houses monographs, periodical publications, reference works and auction catalogues.
Book Day in libraries and museums throughout Spain
The network of public libraries joins the celebration of Book Day with different activities for all types of readers, from thematic exhibitions and meetings with authors, to reading development workshops and children’s activities.
State museums join the book festival with a program of activities whose objective is to highlight their value in bringing their collections closer to the public and getting to know them in depth.
