Commission aims to promote European authors among young people

On 27 March 2023, the Commission celebrates the first European Day of European Authors, a new initiative led by Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Mariya Gabriel.

The day will be an opportunity for the younger generation to reconnect with reading and discover that literature can be a means to strengthen personalities. Reading engages secondary school students with current social and personal problems. This new annual celebration also aims to promote the richness and diversity of European literature, and takes the opportunity to highlight the importance of all the programmes and initiatives that various European countries carry out to promote reading.

Secondary schools across Europe have been encouraged to organise reading aloud sessions, either with an author, a popular personality or a representative of the book sector to tell pupils about the different professions involved in the production of a book from author to illustrator, to translator, editor, and many more. More than 1,000 schools across Europe are organising reading aloud sessions on the 2023 EU Authors Day.

This year, 100 European authors will visit schools to read aloud a piece of their works and encourage students to discover European authors. The Commission organises this tour of European authors in collaboration with the European Writers Council and the European Union Prize of Literature consortium.

Also on 27 March, the Day of European Authors Conference, a one-day conference on reading promotion, is taking place in Sofia, Bulgaria. The conference will gather EU countries’ representatives of the culture and education ministries, public institutions and national NGOs active in this field as well as organisations representing the publishing sector at European level. It is an opportunity to share examples and practices on how the education system and the publishing sector are collaborating to promote reading in schools at local, national and European level. The conference can be followed online.

On the Day of European Authors, everybody is invited to engage sharing the image of a book by his or her favourite European author on social media with the hashtag #ReadWithEurope.

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Nearly 250 schools across Spain take part in European Authors’ Day

Nearly a thousand schools across the European Union are taking part in European Authors’ Day, which is being held for the first time next Monday. Spain is the country with the most schools taking part, 240 to be precise. Initiatives are being held in all the Autonomous Communities, as well as in the Autonomous City of Melilla.
In addition to readings aloud and activities that aim to highlight the diversity and richness of European literature, authors, illustrators, publishers and translators will visit various schools and read their favourite texts together with the students. For example, at IES María Rodrigo in Madrid, illustrator Roxana Irimia will explain her contribution to the story Maravillosas Aventuras Rumanas (Wonderful Romanian Adventures) by Petre Ispirescu.

Visits in localities, centres and authors:

– Azpeitia (Basque Country). Urola ikastola bhi. Miren Gorrotxategi (Basque).
– Lugo (Galicia). ES Perdouro Burela. Antía Yáñez (Galician).
-Madrid:
– IES María Rodrigo. Roxana Irimia
– IES Villa de Vallecas. Juan Aparicio Belmonte
– Montserrat School. Beatriz Bergamín
– IES Madrid Sur. Amelia Pérez de Villar
– IES La Dehesilla. Raquel Martinez Gomez Lopez
– Maria Inmaculada Diocesan School. Jacobo Bergareche, who won a special mention in the European Union Prize for Literature 2022.
List of schools in Spain enclosed.

About European Authors’ Day

In addition to helping young people reconnect with books, this annual celebration aims to show how literature can be a tool for individual empowerment. Books and reading can help people in secondary education to face the social and personal challenges they face. The Day is also an opportunity to underline the importance of all the reading promotion programmes and initiatives already underway in different EU countries.

More information

Day of European Authors

European Commission – Press release