Is World Book Day on April 23 or in March?

Both dates exist for differently named events. UNESCO's World Book and Copyright Day is fixed on April 23 worldwide. The UK and Ireland's separate World Book Day, a children's reading charity, falls on the first Thursday of March.

Why is World Book Day on April 23?

UNESCO calls it a symbolic date for world literature because Cervantes, Shakespeare, and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega are all linked to dying in 1616 on or around that day. It also matches Catalonia's Sant Jordi book-and-rose tradition.

Did Shakespeare and Cervantes really die on the same day?

Not in real time. They share the date April 23, 1616, but England and Spain used different calendars. Cervantes was buried April 23, and Shakespeare's April 23 equals May 3 on Spain's calendar, about eleven days later.

What is the World Book Capital?

Each year since 2001, UNESCO names one city World Book Capital, a title it holds for a year starting April 23. Madrid was the first; Rabat, Morocco, holds it for 2026.

Why is it called World Book and Copyright Day?

The name reflects UNESCO's role in the Universal Copyright Convention, adopted in 1952 and revised in 1971. The day celebrates reading and reminds people that authors hold rights to their work.

World Book Day

Next celebratedFriday, April 23, 2027

An international observance held every April 23 that promotes reading, publishing, and the protection of copyright.

See how to celebrate

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Last updated February 26, 2026 · by the Holiday Calendar TeamHave an update or spot an error?

YEARLY DATEApril 23

OBSERVED INInternationally

CATEGORYPop Culture

SUBCATEGORYBooks

ORIGIN

International Body Recognition

FOUNDING ENTITY

UNESCO

FIRST OBSERVED

1995

“UNESCO declared April 23 World Book and Copyright Day in November 1995, and the world first marked it in Barcelona in 1996.

HOW THE HOLIDAY CAME TO BE

The day UNESCO built on a death date and a rose.

At its General Conference in Paris in November 1995, UNESCO unanimously declared April 23 to be World Book and Copyright Day, and the first international observance was held on April 23, 1996, in Barcelona. The date gives global recognition to a books-and-roses tradition that the Official Book Chamber of Catalonia, Spain, had promoted on the same day for decades.

Read the UNESCO observance pagevia UNESCO

INTRO

The death date that two calendars disagree on

UNESCO picked April 23 for World Book Day because it is, in the words of the United Nations, a symbolic date for world literature. Three giants are said to have died on it: Miguel de Cervantes, William Shakespeare, and the Peruvian chronicler Inca Garcilaso de la Vega. All three are tied to the year 1616.

The neat story is that Cervantes and Shakespeare died the same day. They did not. Cervantes was buried on April 23; he died the day before.

Shakespeare's April 23 fell on the old Julian calendar that England still used, which lands on May 3 on the Gregorian calendar Spain had already adopted. By real elapsed time, Shakespeare outlived Cervantes by about eleven days.

So the most famous fact about the date is a calendar coincidence. The day built on it is anything but: every April 23, World Book Day is marked in more than 100 countries, and UNESCO crowns one city the World Book Capital for the year ahead.

ORIGINS

World Book Day history

CHAPTER 01

A bookseller's day, born in Spain

Long before UNESCO, the date belonged to Spain. The writer and publisher Vicent Clavel Andrés pushed for a national Day of the Book, and in 1926 a royal decree of King Alfonso XIII created one. Its first date was October 7, then believed to be Cervantes' birthday.

The choice was a marketing instinct as much as a literary one: a fixed day when booksellers could put their wares in the street and readers could be coaxed to buy.

Four years later the day moved. In 1930 Spain shifted the Day of the Book to April 23, the date recorded for Cervantes' death.

The new spring date carried its own romance. April 23 is St George's Day, and in Catalonia that means Sant Jordi: a tradition of giving books and roses, the closest thing the region has to Valentine's Day.

CHAPTER 02

From a death date to a doctrine

The date had a second half that the name still carries. In 1952, UNESCO oversaw the Universal Copyright Convention, an international agreement on authors' rights later revised in 1971. That lineage is why the holiday is formally called World Book and Copyright Day: it asks readers to celebrate books and to remember the people who write them have a claim on the work.

By 1993 Spain had a national Book and Reading Day on April 23. The idea of taking it worldwide was a short step away.

CHAPTER 03

The day UNESCO gave to the world

At its General Conference in Paris in November 1995, UNESCO unanimously declared April 23 to be World Book and Copyright Day. The organization was explicit that it was lending international recognition to a tradition that the Official Book Chamber of Catalonia had nurtured for decades.

The first global observance came on April 23, 1996, fittingly in Barcelona. Six years later UNESCO added a flourish that would keep the day in motion: in 2001 it named Madrid the first World Book Capital, a one-year honor handed to a different city each April 23 ever since.

TIMELINE

Timeline

Spain's first Day of the Book

A royal decree of King Alfonso XIII creates a Day of the Book, first held on October 7 and championed by writer-publisher Vicent Clavel Andres.

The date moves to April 23

Spain shifts the Day of the Book from October 7 to April 23, the date recorded for Cervantes' death.

Spain makes it national

Spain proclaims April 23 a national Book and Reading Day, two years before UNESCO takes the date worldwide.

UNESCO declares the day

UNESCO's General Conference in Paris unanimously declares April 23 World Book and Copyright Day.

First global observance

The world marks World Book Day for the first time on April 23, fittingly in Barcelona.

The first World Book Capital

UNESCO names Madrid its first World Book Capital, beginning a one-year honor handed to a new city each April 23.

BY THE NUMBERS

World Book Day by the Numbers

100+: Countries that mark World Book Day
88%: Global adult literacy rate (2024)
739M: Adults still lacking basic literacy
2001: First UNESCO World Book Capital named (Madrid)

WHY THIS DAY MATTERS

Why We Love World Book Day

LITERACY

Two in three adults who cannot read are women.

The celebration sits against a hard imbalance: of the adults worldwide who still lack basic literacy skills, roughly two-thirds are women. A day about the joy of reading is also a day about who is still locked out of it.

RIGHTS

The copyright half no one says out loud

The full name is World Book and Copyright Day, and the second half is not filler. It ties the date to the Universal Copyright Convention UNESCO oversaw, a reminder that the people who write the books have a claim on them.

CITIES

A title that travels the world

Each year UNESCO hands one city the World Book Capital crown for a full year, a working commitment to run reading programs rather than a plaque. The network reaches further still: 63 cities place literature at the heart of their development plans.

GOOD TO KNOW

Recent World Book Capitals

Accra, Ghana (2023)

The year-long title goes to West Africa.

Strasbourg, France (2024)

The crown passes to France for the year.

Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (2025)

The honor crosses to South America.

Rabat, Morocco (2026)

Morocco holds the title through the current year.

Medellin, Colombia (2027)

Already designated; the crown reaches Colombia next.

MYTH VS FACT

Common Misconceptions

The myth

Cervantes and Shakespeare died on the same day, which is why April 23 was chosen.

The truth

They share the date April 23, 1616 but not the same day. Cervantes was buried April 23 and died the day before; Shakespeare's April 23 was on the old Julian calendar, equal to May 3 on the Gregorian one, so he died about eleven days later.

The myth

World Book Day is the one where British children dress up as book characters.

The truth

That is a different event. The UK and Ireland's World Book Day is a children's reading charity held on the first Thursday of March; UNESCO's World Book Day is the international observance on April 23.

GET INVOLVED

How to Celebrate World Book Day

Give a book and a rose

Borrow the Catalan custom that inspired the date. On Sant Jordi in Catalonia, people trade books and roses; pass a favorite title to someone with a flower tucked inside the cover.

FINALLY

Finally start the one on the shelf

April 23 is a clean excuse to open the book you keep meaning to read. Pick the one that has waited longest and read the first chapter today.

VISIT

Visit this year's World Book Capital, in spirit

Look up the current UNESCO World Book Capital and read a book by an author from that country. It turns a date into a small literary trip.

BACK

Back a literacy cause

The day's quiet subject is the hundreds of millions of adults who still cannot read. Donate to or volunteer with a local literacy program to mark it with more than a hashtag.

CREDIT

Credit the author

It is World Book and Copyright Day. Buy the book rather than the bootleg, name the writer when you recommend it, and treat the work as someone's livelihood, because it is.

Test your knowledge

How well do you know World Book Day?

1 / 8

Which organization declared April 23 World Book and Copyright Day?

Answer

No. It is an international observance led by UNESCO, not a public holiday, so banks, schools, and offices stay open on April 23.

COLOPHON

Sources

How we know what’s on this page. References, not endorsements.

9sources

5primary records

5independently dated

Primary records

UNESCO

World Book and Copyright Day

The official UNESCO observance page, documenting the April 23 date, the day's purpose of promoting reading, publishing, and copyright, the Universal Copyright Convention lineage, and the Creative Cities of literature.

View source

UNESCO

World Book Capital

UNESCO's programme page documenting the annual World Book Capital designation, launched in 2001 with Madrid, the one-year term beginning April 23, and recent title cities.

View source

United Nations2021-11-05

World Book and Copyright Day (observances)

The UN observances page (archived), documenting the symbolic April 23 author list and the day being marked by millions of people in more than 100 countries.

View source

UNESCO Institute for Statistics2025-09

International Literacy Day 2025 Fact Sheet

UNESCO's literacy fact sheet documenting an 88% global adult literacy rate for 2024, about 739 million adults still lacking basic literacy skills, and roughly two-thirds of them being women.

View source

Spanish Ministry of Culture2026

Dia del Libro y del Derecho de Autor

The Spanish government page documenting the 1926 royal decree that created Spain's Day of the Book on October 7 and its 1930 move to April 23.

View source

Additional coverage

United Nations1996-04-22

Press Release PI/937: World Book and Copyright Day to be Celebrated 23 April

The contemporaneous UN press release confirming UNESCO's November 1995 proclamation, the Catalan Official Book Chamber tradition, Spain's 1993 national Book and Reading Day, and the April 23, 1996 first observance.

View source

Folger Shakespeare Library2016-02-04

Shakespeare and Cervantes: 400 Years

A Folger essay establishing that Cervantes was buried April 23 (and died the day before) and that Shakespeare's April 23 death on the Julian calendar equals May 3 Gregorian, about eleven days apart.

View source

International Publishers Association

World Book and Copyright Day: the origin

An industry account documenting the 1616 author symbolism, the Sant Jordi books-and-roses inspiration, UNESCO's November 1995 decision, and the first celebration on April 23, 1996.

View source

Wikipedia

World Book Day (UK and Ireland)

Reference entry used only to disambiguate the separate UK and Ireland World Book Day, held on the first Thursday of March, from UNESCO's April 23 observance and from World Book Night.

View source

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