“World Book and Copyright Day is a
celebration to promote the enjoyment of books and reading. Each year, on 23
April, celebrations take place all over the world to recognize the magical
power of books - a link between the past and the future, a bridge between
generations and across cultures. On this occasion, UNESCO and the international
organizations representing the three major sectors of the book industry -
publishers, booksellers and libraries, select a city as the World Book
Capital to maintain, through its own initiatives, the impetus of the Day’s
celebrations until 23 April of the following year.” (UNESCO web page). This
year Athens has been designated World Book Capital.
It is worth recalling that “23 April is
a symbolic date in world literature. It is the date on which several prominent
authors, William Shakespeare, Miguel Cervantes and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega
all died. This date was a natural choice for UNESCO's General Conference, held
in Paris in 1995, to pay a world-wide tribute to books and authors on this
date, encouraging everyone to access books - most beautiful invention for
sharing ideas beyond the boundaries of humanity space and time as well as the
most powerful forces of poverty eradication and peace building.” (UNESCO web page).
The 2018 edition is entitled “READING,
it's my right!”, and it will be an opportunity to commemorate the 70th
anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
A book which has recently been punished in Spanish caught
my attention a few days ago: Vivir bien
la vida, that´s the title in Spanish
but the book already existed in English as: Very
Good Lives: The Fringe Benefits of
Failure and the Importance of Imagination. Why shoud I mention this book
now? First of all, because the author is J.K. Rowling and she is one of those writers whose
literary work is inextricably linked to the film industry and secondly because
this book is based on the speech that she gave to Harvard University students
in 2008 and after having read her speech, I can´t resist making a
recommendation: it is one of the most inspiring and meaningful speeches that I
have ever read. So, this is my recommendation for today but as usual read what
you feel like reading, watch the films that you enjoy watching and above all,
enjoy the day!!!
“We do not need magic to change the
world, we carry all the power we need inside ourselves already: we have the power to imagine better.”
(from J.K. Rowling´s speech)
