April 23 is World Book and Copyright Day!

Since 1995, the United Nations has celebrated World Book and Copyright Day. The date was chosen to correspond with the April 23, 1616 deaths of Miguel de Cervantes, Inca Garciliaso de la Vega, and William Shakespeare (although only Garciliaso actually died on that day).

On this quadricentennial of the deaths of these three literary figures, libraries, publishers, and cultural
institutions worldwide are commemorating the date with festivals, lectures, exhibitions, and other events. At Knox there was an event, “Shakespeare y Cervantes,” on April 21.

In addition, Seymour Library’s current book display is dedicated to Cervantes and Shakespeare. The display includes works by both writers and examines the literary and historical contexts that produced these two literary giants whose literary careers spanned the last decade of the 16th century and the first 15 years of the 17th century.