Do you know how the European Union promotes reading?

International Book Day is celebrated every 23 April. The date coincides with the deaths of William Shakespeare, Miguel de Cervantes and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega.

The initiative was launched by UNESCO in 1995 and aims to promote reading and protect copyright. This date is celebrated all over the world by book lovers.

A cultural Europe thanks to Creative Europe

Creative Europe is a European Union project that promotes and strengthens the cultural and creative sectors. This programme co-finances artists and professionals in the sector, supporting them in the creation and innovation of projects. A beneficiary of this funding is the MEDIA sub-programme, created by the European Commission to support the audiovisual industry in Europe. It is also the Culture sub-programme, aimed at funding cross-border cooperation projects, networking, platforms and literary translation.

Creative Europe also includes the Cross-Sectional strand, which includes the Financial Guarantee Facility, a financial mechanism that provides guarantees to lenders when lending to cultural and creative projects. In this way, SMEs are helped to obtain the financing that will help them to overcome the difficulties that are characteristic of this sector.

European Authors’ Day

2023 is the first year in which European Authors’ Day has been celebrated on 27 March. This European initiative was born with the aim of re-engaging young people with literature and to serve as a mechanism for intellectual development.

The European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Mariya Gabriel, is the precursor of this day, and in its first edition a conference was held in Sofia (Bulgaria). In addition, reading sessions were held in secondary schools and a European authors’ tour of bookshops, schools and libraries across Europe.

23 April: World Book and Copyright Day

EU Prize for Literature

Each year, the EU Prize for Literature rewards emerging authors for their recently published works. It was launched by the European Commission in 2009 and is open to all countries participating in the Creative Europe programme.

The aim of these prizes is to further internationalise the potential of literature in the member countries of the European Union and to create a joint literary identity in Europe that is strong beyond the borders of our continent.

Some Spanish winners in recent years have been Irene Solà, in 2020, for her novel Canto jo i la muntanya balla, and Raquel Martínez, in 2019, for her work Sombras de un unicornio.

According to data from the European Commission, the literary sector contributes more than 35 billion euros to the European cultural market. One of the Commission’s main objectives in this respect is the translation of literary production so that all works are accessible regardless of their language of origin.

How are you celebrating Book Day and have you decided to get even closer to reading?

More information

European Commission