Days Until World Book Day

About World Book Day

April 23 was designated by UNESCO in 1995, chosen partly because it's associated with the death dates of several major literary figures including Miguel de Cervantes and (by the older Julian-calendar reckoning still used for some purposes) William Shakespeare.

The full UNESCO title is World Book and Copyright Day, reflecting its dual purpose of promoting reading, publishing, and copyright protection for authors internationally.

UNESCO's chosen date deliberately doesn't correspond to Shakespeare's death under the modern Gregorian calendar, since England hadn't yet adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1616 — a subtle calendar-history footnote behind the day's dual literary namesakes.

UNESCO also uses the day to award its annual World Book Capital designation to a different city each year, recognizing programs that promote reading, publishing, and literary culture.

UNESCO's dual naming of the day as World Book and Copyright Day reflects its origin partly in advocacy from international publishing and authors' rights organizations concerned with fair compensation for writers.