World Book Day on 23 April
"Pick a poem" in the Central Library and literature podcast with ten Saxon authors
On World Book Day, 23 April, a washing line with poetic texts by amateur authors from Chemnitz will once again be strung in the city library. For 19 years now, visitors have been invited to: "Pick a poem". To this end, members of the 1st Chemnitz Writers' Association provide self-written love poems, sayings and short stories. Picking and taking home is expressly permitted and encouraged.
The Saxony State Association of the German Library Association (dbv) and the Saxon Literature Council are organising the "Library Literature Forum". Ten authors living in Saxony, including Ulrike Almut Sandig, Anselm Oelze and Kerstin Hensel, will read from their latest books. The reading series, now in its eighth year, will open with a video talk and reading. Leipzig author Deniz Ohde will be a guest with her novel Streulicht.
The readings will be made available online on World Book Day:
Literaturforum Bibliothek - reading series for adults
The online format replaces the originally planned live readings, which were to take place in 44 Saxon libraries but had to be cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic. In Chemnitz, Verena Keßler was scheduled to present her debut novel "Die Gespenster von Demmin" at the Central Library in the TIETZ.
World Book Day
On 23 April, UNESCO World Book Day, bookshops, publishers, libraries, schools and reading enthusiasts celebrate the global holiday for reading, books and the rights of authors. UNESCO, the UN organisation for culture and education, was inspired by the Catalan custom of giving away roses and books on the name day of the popular saint St. George on 23 April.
The date also has special significance for another reason: it is the anniversary of the deaths of William Shakespeare and Miguel de Cervantes.