On Monday 11 April 2016, the 2016 edition of Luxembourg's Book and Copyright Day was presented at the Bibliothèque nationale de Luxembourg.
In the presence of Secretary of State for Culture, Guy Arendt; President of the National Commission of Luxembourg for Cooperation with UNESCO, Simone Beck; Director of the Bibliothèque nationale, Monique Kieffer and coordinator of the Book and Copyright Day, it was explained how 23 April, the anniversary of the death of writers William Shakespeare and Miguel de Cervantes, was selected by UNESCO in 1995 as the day in which to offer a worldwide tribute to books and their authors.
The day aims to encourage everyone, but particularly young people, to discover and rediscover the pleasure of reading through the oldest form of communication, and in so doing understand the creation process of a text and book and the copyrights that result from it.
In 2007, the six partners of hte Fédération luxembourgeoise des librairies, the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Culture, the Bibliothèque nationale, the Archives nationales and the Centre national de littérature came together for the first time in a bid to coordinate events centered around World Book Day. Each yeah, a unifying theme is selected in relation to books and reading, which for 2016 will be 'Une idée - un livre / Vun der Iddi bis bei d'Buch' (From Idea to Book).
This year's theme will trace the life of a book from a blurry idea to a paper product whuch is developed, reread, corrected and reworking. The end result, in either printed or digital form, is multiplied and distributed to complete its journey to the hands of the reader, which in turn inspires and gives rise to new ideas, establishing a self-renewing creative cycle. The 2016 edition will therefore highlight the key authors, illustrators, publishers, book craftsmen, booksellers, libraries, archives and other associations in Luxembourg that make up this cycle.
From Monday 18 until Saturday 23 April 2016, book actors will be offering an extensive programme of activities and events to the general public, as well as school classes, across the country.
From 19 to 23 April 2016, the Belle Étoile shopping centre will be holding, through four separate stations, a bilingual exhibition showing how an idea on paper is developed and corrected, put through the editorial and manufacturing process, distributed and promoted to finally arrive in the hands of the reader. Illustrated by Luxembourg artist Andy Genen, the exhibition is geared to all audiences and all ages and forms part of a programme of activities, as well as a themed sale of Luxembourg literature.
The full programme of events is available at www.liesen.lu.
