Every year, on 23 April, World Book and Copyright Day is celebrated in more than 100 countries. The event, sponsored by UNESCO, has been held since 1996 as a response to the Organization’s resolution to encourage reading, publishing activities and the protection of intellectual property through copyright.
The idea of a day dedicated to books was strongly promoted by Catalonian writer Vincent Clavel Andrés and is held on a date very significant to the literary world, since 3 major writers died on 23 April: Miguel de Cervantes, William Shakespeare and Garcilaso de la Vega.
Taking as criteria the cultural initiatives and projects to celebrate this day, every year UNESCO nominates a particular city as “World Book Capital.” Last year’s capital was Athens, and this year it is Sharjah, located in the United Arab Emirates.
Commenting on this choice, Irina Bokova, Director General of UNESCO, said: “I appreciate the choice of Sharjah as World Book Capital and the efforts undertaken by the city to make reading available to as many people as possible, especially marginalized populations, as an engine of social inclusion, creativity and dialogue.”
The FSPs in Europe always carry out a number of initiatives to commemorate this event, which highlights the importance of books and, indirectly, the Pauline apostolate.