World Book Day is celebrated
every year on April 23. UNESCO undertakes the responsibility of the event. With
the help of the event, UNESCO aims to inculcate reading habits among people,
especially the youth and highlight the various issues surrounding authors,
publishers and other related parties. Since Copyright is a big issue in the
world of books and writing, there is always a focus on the issue on the World
Book Day. That's why, in many parts of the world, this day is also known as the
World Book and Copyright Day.
The first ever World Book Day was
celebrated on April 23, 1995. The date as decided by UNESCO as it was also the
death and birth anniversary of William Shakespeare, a world famous author. The
date also coincided with the death anniversary of Miguel de Cervantes, who was
a noted Spanish author. Some other well known authors whose birth or death
anniversary falls on this day are Maurice Druon, Josep Pla and Halldor Laxness.
As the name suggests, the focus
of the day is on books and writing. Thus, various programs are held by UNESCO
to promote reading habits among people. Focus is also on discussing various
issues pertaining to the world of authors, publishers, distributors etc. as
well as promoting their works and causes.
However, unlike other such days,
there are no themes decided as such by UNESCO each year, although there is a
specific topic around which programs are organized every year. Apart from that,
there are traditions on the day which are specific to some countries. The
tradition of exchanging books in Spain has already been talked about. There is
also the tradition of organizing a reading marathon spanning two days in Spain,
at the end of which an author is given the coveted Miguel de Cervantes prize by
the King of Spain. In Sweden, writing competitions are organized across schools
and colleges.
In UK as well as Ireland, the day
is celebrated on the first Thursday of March instead of April 23. April 23 is
the St. George's Day in UK, and hence, to avoid a clash with it, the day has
been moved in UK as well as Ireland.
The organizing body of the day, UNESCO, comes with different
themes for the day each year. In 2012, the theme of the day was translation.
The theme of World Book Day 2012 was decided in order to promote
"equitable access of content across regions."
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