World Book Day is a yearly event, celebrated April 23rd, organised by UNESCO as a worldwide tribute to books and reading. According to UNESCO, April 23 is a symbolic day for literature since on that date 1616 both Shakespeare, Cervantes and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega died. Of course we want to celebrate books and reading in our school as well!
Since April 23rd is a Saturday this year we will celebrate on Friday with various activities in the library.
For example:
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Discuss books with IEGS Literature Club over fika (afternoon)
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IEGS Literature Club Quiz
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Create your own blackout poetry
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Banned books exhibition
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Creative writing workshop held by author E.P. Uggla (in Swedish) April 22nd at 08:10. If you don’t have class at that time and want to join, send me an email as the number of participants are limited.
E.P. Uggla has published several books, mainly within the dystopia and horror genre. She also writes manuscripts for mythological podcasts.
Reading is Power
A few words about why reading is important. World Book Day does not only exist to celebrate the fun in reading. It is also here to remind us how lucky we are to have the possibilities to read and write without fear.
Limiting both education and forbidding certain books have always been a way to oppress. The more you know the more you might see inequality and understand how society works and how history has brought us here. To educate yourself by reading will make you more critical and start asking questions. It might also make you want to fight the power. This is dangerous for oppressing leaders but also for the movements that are spreading fake news.
To know your facts to crush false arguments and develop an understanding for the world around you are important, but where does fiction come in? Fiction is fiction, someone made it up, right? True, but reading fiction from different periods of time and different parts of the world, written by authors from different classes, ethnicities, genders and age will take you out from your comfort zone of today and right here. It will make your understanding of the world even deeper.
If fiction wasn’t important and dangerous, books wouldn’t have been banned. Throughout history leaders have banned certain books and that is still happening today. For example was Animal Farm by George Orwell banned in the Soviet Union because of its critical description of brutal communist dictatorship. The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie sparked riots in Iran after being accused of blasphemy, it was burned on the streets of England and Iran and the author had to flee the country. The Well of Loneliness by Radcliffe Hall was banned in the UK in the beginning of the 20th century because of the description of a lesbian relationship.
These books and more will be featured in our Banned books exhibition in the library. Borrow them, read them and celebrate the fact that you are able to!