World Book Day 2011 and Copyright Day (April 23rd)
There is something amazing about books. Years of research and thinking compressed in one volume for the masses to read. I wrote the draft of one of my research books on water governance in Mexico last December. And I’m still in the process of editing it. I spend countless hours of my day at libraries poring over dozens of volumes, and my EndNote and Mendeley reference databases are filled with book citations.
Thanks to Rossana Ascencio I was reminded about today being World Book Day. I also found out it’s World Copyright Day.
23 April is a symbolic date for world literature for on this date in 1616, Cervantes, Shakespeare and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega all died. It is also the date of birth or death of other prominent authors such as Maurice Druon, Haldor K.Laxness, Vladimir Nabokov, Josep Pla and Manuel Mejía Vallejo. It 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, and in particular young people, to discover the pleasure of reading and gain a renewed respect for the irreplaceable contributions of those who have furthered the social and cultural progress of humanity. In this respect, UNESCO created both the World Book and Copyright Day and the UNESCO Prize for Children’s and Young People’s Literature in the Service of Tolerance.
What is your favorite book?
