Every year, April 23rd is recognized as the World Book Day, also known as the World Book and Copyright Day. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) established the event in 1995 which is now globally celebrated across 100 countries.
World book day is celebrated to cherish the gift of books, copyright, publishing and the strength of words that impact people’s life in miraculous ways. The 2021st World Book day is the twenty-fifth edition of the event.
Why 23rd of April? Because many pre-eminent authors came into this world and also left it, on the very 23rd of April. Shakespeare, Manuel Mejia Vallejo, Maurice Druon and Haldor K Laxness opened their eyes to this word on this day. While William Shakespeare along with Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, Cervantes and Josep Pla closed theirs on the same day.
Amidst the pandemic, people have found a true companion in books and according to UNESCO, the number has doubled in some countries. We cannot imagine a world without the unassailable contribution of writers and publishers who have exposed so many different dimensions of this existence and just laid it all out on paper for everyone to know and learn.
The potential of words you see just doesn’t impact you consciously but it weaves networks of information in your subconscious. You do not realize how it imprints in your mind deeply.
The culture of reading cannot stop and that is what books ensure. Can we take this day to acknowledge the cultural, social, economic and other sort of progress mankind has made?
World book day celebrates three main domains the book industry –the publishers, booksellers and libraries. Global organizations including UNESCO, choose a World Book Capital of the year to propagate the event’s agenda.
The 2021st World Book Capital is Tbilisi, capital city of Georgia. Keeping the pandemic in mind, the theme chosen for this World Book and Copyright Day is ‘to share a story.’ As a part of this day’s celebrations, UNESCO has also commissioned a bookface challenge.
One who never got lost in the uncharted terrains of a book or never shed a tear reading heartening stories or felt a strong pull by the power of these inscriptions is yet to discover the glorious treasure of the mighty books!
Wishing you all a very Happy World Book Day!
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