World Book and Copyright Day is celebrated on April 23rd. The date, chosen by UNESCO, has an important symbolic value in world literature. On April 23, 1616, Miguel de Cervantes, Shakespeare and Garcilaso de la Vega died, three authors who crossed borders and who today are essential references of universal literature. In 1995, UNESCO chose this day to celebrate World Book and Copyright Day, with the aim of promoting reading, the publication of books and the protection of intellectual property.
On the occasion of the world day promoted by UNESCO, the May of Books initiative will be inaugurated from 23 April to 31 May, a national campaign that aims to expand the reach of people who dedicate themselves to reading. The initiative, managed by the Center for Books and Reading and sponsored by the Ministry of Culture, seeks to bring the passion for books to contexts other than traditional ones, to intercept those who usually don’t read but who may be intrigued if stimulated in the right way. The theme of the 2024 Book Day edition is “If you read you’ll lib(e)ri”: culture helps to open the mind and free oneself from stereotypes. It develops around three strands: “Free(s) to know”, “Free(s) to dream” and “Free(s) to create”. The famous writer Dacia Maraini and the expert Guido Vitiello will inaugurate the day with the event entitled “L’Europa dei lib(e)ri” at 11.30 am, marking the opening of Strasbourg as the 2024 World Book Capital.
The Libraries of Rome (Biblioteche di Roma) have also joined the May of Books initiative by offering a rich calendar of events. Friday 28 May at 7pm at the Franco Basaglia Library, the writer Domenico Dara will present the book “Malinverno“, the story of a librarian in a small fantasy town. Following this, on Saturday 29 May at 11am Luisa Mattia will present “Franca. Una vita in Scena (Franca. A life on stage)” in memory of Franca Rame at the Sandro Onofri Library. On Sunday 30 May at 12, Laura Pugno, writer, translator and essayist, will close the series of events “Intorno a Dante. I circoli di lettura leggono la Commedia (Around Dante. The reading circles read the Comedy)” at the Laurentina Library. To find out more about the events, click HERE.
For the 2024 edition, the Instituto Cervantes in Rome has organized a series of events dedicated to book culture, to discover new works and meet authors. From 5.30pm to 6.30pm on Tuesday 23 April 2024 at the María Zambrano Library, Laura Pugno will present her personal, professional and creative biography for the “Librarian for a Day” event. Poet, writer, translator and cultural operator, Laura Pugno was awarded the Campiello Selezione Letterati Prize, the Franco Fortini International Prize for poetry, the Frignano Prize for fiction, the Dedalus Prize, the Book of the Sea Prize and the Writing Prize Cinema for the scene.