2023 Literary and Book-Themed Holidays for Your Calendar

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Hello, fellow book dragons! Looking for book-themed holidays to celebrate this year?

I’ve compiled a list of literary holidays for readers, writers, grammar-lovers, and bilbliophiles so you can make sure your favorites are marked on your calendar. This list is updated for 2023 with some new bookish holidays that have been added from last year’s list.

See the 2024 list here!

JANUARY 2023


National Book Blitz Month
National Braille Literacy Month

Jan 1: New Year’s Dishonor List Day | International Public Domain Day | Copyright Law Day

Jan 2: National Science Fiction Day

Jan 3: J.R.R. Tolkien Day

Jan 8-14: Universal Letter Writing Week (Second full week of January)

Jan 9: National Word Nerd Day

Jan 10: Poetry at Work Day (Second Tuesday of January)

Jan 16: Book Publishers Day

Jan 18: National Thesaurus Day | Winnie the Pooh Day (author A. A. Milne‘s birthday)

Jan 23: National Handwriting Day

Jan 25: Burns Supper (poet Robert Burns‘s birthday) | Library Shelfie Day (fourth Wednesday of January)

Jan 30 – Feb 6: National Storytelling Week

FEBRUARY 2023


National Library Lovers Month

Feb 1: Robinson Crusoe Day | World Read Aloud Day

Feb 4: Take Your Child to the Library Day

Feb 5-11: Children’s Authors and Illustrators Week (First week of February)

Feb 9: Read in the Bathtub Day

Feb 12-18: Freelance Writers Appreciation Week (Second week of February)

Feb 14: International Book-Giving Day | Library Lovers Day | Read to Your Child Day

Feb 20: Clean Out Your Bookcase Day

Feb 26: Tell a Fairy Tale Day

MARCH 2023


Small Press Month

Mar 2: National Read Across America Day

Mar 4: National Grammar Day

Mar 5-11: Read an Ebook Week | Return Borrowed Books Week

Mar 14: National Write Your Story Day

Mar 16: National Freedom of Information Day

Mar 20: World Storytelling Day

Mar 21: World Poetry Day

Mar 25: Tolkien Reading Day

Mar 30: National Pencil Day

Open book with spring flowers, black feathers, and Scrabble tiles that spell April

APRIL 2023


National Poetry Month
School Library Month

Apr 1: Edible Book Day | Reading is Funny Day

Apr 2: Children’s Picture Book Day

Apr 4: National School Librarian Day

Apr 10: National Encourage a Young Writer Day

Apr 12: D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything and Read) Day

Apr 13: National Scrabble Day | Celebrate Teen Literature Day

Apr 15: World Art Day | Rubber Eraser Day

Apr 16: National Librarian Day

Apr 17: International Haiku Poetry Day

Apr 18: National Columnist Day

Apr 23: Shakespeare Day | Talk Like Shakespeare Day | World Book and Copyright Day

Apr 23-29: National Library Week

Apr 25: National Library Workers Day (Tuesday of National Library Week)

Apr 26: National Library Outreach Day (Wednesday of National Library Week — formerly National Bookmobile Day)

Apr 27: National Tell a Story Day | National Poem in Your Pocket Day

Apr 28: Great Poetry Reading Day

Apr 30: Independent Bookstore Day (Last Saturday of April)

MAY 2023


Short Story Month
Get Caught Reading Month
Latino Books Month

May 1: Mother Goose Day

May 2: International Harry Potter Day (Anniversary of the Battle of Hogwarts)

May 2-8: Children’s Book Week

May 3: World Press Freedom Day

May 5: National Cartoonists Day

May 6: National Scrapbook Day | Free Comic Book Day (First Saturday of May)

May 9: Peter Pan Day

May 12: National Limerick Day

May 16: National Biographer’s Day

May 22: Sherlock Holmes Day

May 25: Towel Day (in honor of author Douglas Adams)

May 31: National Speak in Complete Sentences Day

Ghost Realm candle by Old Soul Artisan

JUNE 2023


Audiobook Appreciation Month
GLBT Book Month

Jun 10: National Ball Point Pen Day

Jun 16: Bloomsday (in honor of writer James Joyce)

Jun 19: National Garfield the Cat Day

Jun 23: National Typewriter Day

JULY 2023


Read an Almanac Month

Jul 4: Alice in Wonderland Day

Jul 30: Paperback Book Day

AUGUST 2023


Aug 2: National Coloring Book Day

Aug 9: National Book Lovers Day

Aug 18: Bad Poetry Day

Aug 21: Poet’s Day

Aug 25: National Hug a Librarian Day

Aug 30: Frankenstein Day (author Mary Shelley‘s birthday)

Aug 31: We Love Memoirs Day

Open book with the definition of bibliophile

SEPTEMBER 2023


Read a New Book Month (also December)
Library Card Signup Month
Be Kind to Editors and Writers Month
National Literacy Month

Sept 6: National Read a Book Day

Sept 7: Buy a Book Day

Sept 8: International Literacy Day | World Ampersand Day

Sept 11: Libraries Remember Day

Sept 13: Roald Dahl Day

Sept 18: Read an Ebook Day

Sept 17-23: National Adult Education and Family Literacy Week

Sept 22: Hobbit Day | Dear Diary Day

Sept 24: National Punctuation Day

Sept 25: National Comic Book Day

OCTOBER 2023


National Book Month
National Cookbook Month
National Medical Librarians Month
National Reading Group Month
Church Library Month

Oct 1: National Poetry Day

Oct 1-7: Banned Books Week | National Newspaper Week (Starts on the first Sunday of October) | Mystery Series Week (First full week of October)

Oct 6: Mad Hatter Day

Oct 8: International Newspaper Carrier Day

Oct 11: Myths and Legends Day

Oct 12: Cookbook Launch Day | National Freethought Day

Oct 16: Dictionary Day

Oct 15-21: Friends of Libraries Week (Third week of October)

Oct 17: Black Poetry Day

Oct 20: National Day on Writing

Oct 27: Frankenstein Friday (Last Friday in October)

Oct 31: Books for Treats Day

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NOVEMBER 2023


National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)
National Family Literacy Month
National Life Writing Month
Picture Book Month

Nov 1: National Author’s Day | National Family Literacy Day

Nov 2: National Nonfiction Day (First Thursday of November)

Nov 5-11: International Games Week

Nov 7-13: National Book Award Week

Nov 12: National Chicken Soup for the Soul Day

Nov 13-17: National Young Readers Week | World Nursery Rhyme Week

Nov 14: Young Readers Day (Second Tuesday of November)

Nov 15: I Love to Write Day

Nov 18: High Five a Librarian Day

Nov 19-25: National Bible Week

Nov 20-26: Book Week Scotland

Hand holding an open book in the snow with Christmas lights

DECEMBER 2023


Read a New Book Month (also September)
Spiritual Literacy Month

Dec 7: Letter Writing Day

Dec 10: Dewey Decimal System Day

Dec 21: Crossword Puzzle Day | National Short Story Day | Phileas Fogg Win a Wager Day (from Around the World in Eighty Days by Jules Verne)

Dec 24: Jolabokaflod, also known as the Christmas or Yule Book Flood (Iceland)

Dec 25: A’phabet Day or No L Day (Pun Day — “No L” = Noel… get it?)

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Did I miss any book-related holidays? Please let me know in the comments and I will consider adding them to the list!

Love fantasy worldbuilding, strong character bonds, and page-turning adventures? Check out my award-winning Chronicles of Avilésor: War of the Realms series.

Sources:


https://nationaltoday.com/books/
https://buildyourlibrary.com/calendar-book-related-holidays/
https://bookriot.com/book-holidays/
https://buildbookbuzz.com/2023-literary-calendar/

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I'm an award-winning fantasy author, artist, and photographer from La Porte, Indiana. My poetry, short fiction, and memoir works have been featured in various anthologies and journals since 2005, and several of my poems are available in the Indiana Poetry Archives. The first three novels in my Chronicles of Avilésor: War of the Realms series have received awards from Literary Titan.

After some time working as a freelance writer, I was shocked by how many website articles are actually written by paid "ghost writers" but published under the byline of a different author. It was a jolt seeing my articles presented as if they were written by a high-profile CEO or an industry expert with decades of experience. I'll be honest; it felt slimy and dishonest. I had none of the credentials readers assumed the author of the article actually had. Ghost writing is a perfectly legal, astonishingly common practice, and now, AI has entered the playing field to further muddy the waters. It's hard to trust who (or what) actually wrote the content you'll read online these days.

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