Happy World Book and Copyright Day

From UNESCO:

23 April: a symbolic date for world literature for on this date and in the same year of 1616, Cervantes, Shakespeare and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega all died. It is also the date of birth or death of other prominent authors such as Maurice Druon, K.Laxness, Vladimir Nabokov, Josep Pla and Manuel Mejía Vallejo.

(Shakespeare and Cervantes died on the same day?! That's like a 17th century version of the Big Bopper/Richie Valens/Buddy Holly plane crash.)

Today is World Book and Copyright Day! This year's theme is "International Year for the Rapprochement of Cultures. I celebrated by immediately reaching for one of my favorite books and looking up "rapprochement."

According to UNESCO, the inspiration for this celebration came from a Catalonian tradition in which booksellers give customers a rose on St. George's Day.

Here's a link to a list of celebrations happening around the world.

Happy World Book and Copyright Day!