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The book really is a fantastic invention. For centuries, these paper ‘bricks’ of printed pages have provided infinite opportunities for entertainment, fun and reflection and helped us understand our planet, hear other voices, learn countless new things… and dream of other worlds. And there’s a special day for celebrating books in all their myriad forms: World Book Day!
For almost 30 years, World Book Day has celebrated – in a wide variety of ways – an object considered ‘one of the most beautiful inventions for sharing ideas and […] an effective instrument to fight poverty and build sustainable peace’, as the day’s organisers put it.
But when is World Book Day? Who created it, and why? And what key events does this special event involve? Let’s find out together!
World Book Day: what is it, and why is it celebrated?
World Book Day – or, to give it its full name, World Book and Copyright Day – is an event promoted by UNESCO, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, which founded it in 1996.
Since then, all over the world, one day every year has been dedicated to promoting and celebrating reading, the progress books can achieve, encounters between writers and readers from diverse cultures, eras and worlds, and the joy and knowledge children get from access to books.
When is World Book Day celebrated?
World Book and Copyright Day is celebrated in most countries on 23 April. The date was not chosen at random. On 23 April 1616, three of humanity’s greatest-ever writers all died on the same day: the English playwright William Shakespeare, the Spanish novelist Miguel de Cervantes and the father of Latin-American literature Inca Garcilaso de la Vega.
Other notable anniversaries related to books and writers also fall on this date. The Russian author Vladimir Nabokov, who wrote the (then) controversial novel Lolita, was born on 23 April 1899; and the Icelandic writer and Nobel Prize-winner Halldór Laxnes was born on the same date in 1902. Other literary names with connections to this date include the French author Maurice Druon, the Columbian Manuel Mejía Vallejo and the Spaniard Josep Pla.
A series of coincidences therefore make 23 April the perfect day to celebrate the power of books and literature. But there’s more. 23 April was already a day dedicated to books in Spain (in Barcelona, to be precise). Booksellers in Barcelona and across Catalonia still give away a rose with every book sold on 23 April.
In the UK and Ireland, meanwhile, World Book Day is celebrated in March, while 2 April, the birthday of the fairy tale author Hans Christan Andersen, is known as International Children’s Book Day.
World Book Day: events, activities, readings and imagination
Many book enthusiasts get involved in World Book Day: as well as readers – especially young ones – and writers, of course, there are also all the teachers, booksellers, libraries, institutions and businesses connected to books and the joy of reading.
Many small- and large-scale events are held based on this special platform. Libraries and bookshops organise public readings, while authors and publishers take advantage of the day to promote their new releases. The publishing world discusses the future of books in workshops and trade events.
And there are some extremely imaginative book-related activities too. During 2024, Johannes Gutenberg – the inventor of movable type – was celebrated in Strasbourg: quite right too, as he lived in the French city while conducting his early research into printing techniques. As part of these celebrations, the event’s organisers taught the secrets of typography to some very young readers, allowing them to create their very own book.
Berlin, meanwhile, celebrated on a larger scale. In 2006, at the time of the football World Cup, which almost coincided with World Book Day, a temporary art exhibition was unveiled in the German capital: a 12-metre-high pile of books! An excellent way to celebrate the country where the modern printing process was born.
But World Book Day also provides an opportunity to promote historic places linked to reading and books. For example, guided tours were organised in 2023 in Rio de Janeiro around a true book-lover’s paradise: the Royal Portuguese Cabinet of Reading. The Times called this one of the most beautiful libraries in the world, containing a treasure trove of reading material.
Many small yet significant activities take place every year on World Book Day. Here are a few examples: in Guyana, children were invited to read their favourite book out loud. In Tunisia in 2012, many students sat in the middle of the road with a book in their hands. And In Malaysia, young children were encouraged to impersonate their favourite book character.
The digital world has also become fertile ground for celebrating World Book Day. Social media feeds fill up with book covers and quotes, and brands piggy-back on the occasion to launch events or new products.
Then there are digital activities created specially for the day. For instance, in 2021 the European Commission created an online quiz that recommended a book written by a European author based on the responses given. One of the more unusual digital initiatives was one organised by UNESCO Youth, which invited young people to take a photo with a book cover that ‘continued’ in the real world: a fun way to play with perspective.
A capital to celebrate World Book Day
Every year, on 23 April, another major event happens as part of World Book Day: UNESCO names its World Book Capital, a city that has done a particularly large amount to promote books and reading.
The city retains its title for the entire year, and has the task of keeping the World Book Day celebrations alive by holding events and continuing to shine a light on books.
The first book to be named as World Book Capital, in 2001, was Madrid, followed in 2002 by Alexandria in Egypt, which in ancient times was home to the largest and richest library in the world. 2024’s capital was Strasbourg, and it will be passing on the baton to Rio de Janeiro: the first Portuguese-speaking city to be given the title.
In 2026 it will be the turn of Rabat in Morocco. Which cities do you think could receive this honour in the years to come?
What is planned for World Book Day 2025?
The city gearing up most for World Book Day 2025 is undoubtedly Rio de Janeiro, the future World Book Capital. It plans to organise programmes and literary events in the city’s large public spaces – like its squares and parks – to make books accessible to absolutely everyone!
In addition, every two years, the city hosts the Rio Book Fair, a major global event dedicated to the book industry. This year’s will certainly be extra special. The plan is to create a sort of book play park, where visitors can enjoy full immersion in this brilliant paper invention!
To find out about the numerous events taking place all over the world, we recommend you keep an eye on the UNESCO website dedicated to World Book and Copyright Day. And don’t forget to ask your favourite local bookshops, libraries and reading spaces… they’ll probably have something special lined up!
How about you? How are you planning to celebrate World Book Day?