Use 2023 literary calendar with 152 bookish occasions to celebrate and support books
Include celebrating several holidays from this extensive 2023 literary calendar in your book marketing plan for next year.
Whether it’s Library Lovers Day in February or National Book Month in October, there are plenty of wonderful book holidays in 2023 that give us an opportunity to celebrate all things books and reading.
You might decide to encourage your network to join you for World Storytelling Day. Maybe you’ll call attention to National Library Week in your community. Perhaps you’ll host a contest for National Bad Poetry Day.
No matter how you want to support books and reading, you’ll find plenty of popular literary dates plus special days, weeks, and months that focus on books, reading, writing, and literacy in the 2023 literary calendar below.
You’ll find plenty of popular literary dates plus special days, weeks, and months that focus on books, reading, writing, and literacy in the 2023 literary calendar.Click to tweetHow to use your 2023 literary calendar
What’s the best way to use these special dates? Here are ideas.
Step 1. Start by reviewing the list in the 2023 literary calendar below and selecting those that speak to you. For example, did you write a memoir? Gather a few of your favorite memoirists together for a conversation about writing your life story on We Love Memoirs Day in August or during November, National Memoirs Month.
Are you a children’s book author or illustrator? You’ve got an entire week in February dedicated to you. Take advantage of it!
Step 2. Add your favorite occasions and dates to your calendar, then set a reminder a few days in advance so you have time to plan and create what you’ll use to promote the special day. (I use my smartphone’s “Reminders” app for this.)
Step 3. Decide how you’ll recognize the occasion. Here are a few ideas:
- Use the holiday as a conversation starter on social media. For example, for Paperback Book Day (image below), I’ll ask my connections on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter if they read paperbacks or prefer hardcovers, e-books, or audiobooks. I can turn that into a survey in my Facebook book marketing group, too.
- Blog about why the special day is important to you or write about it in your email newsletter.
- Create a short video to share on social media. Post to Instagram or Facebook Stories, TikTok, or share it on your book’s Facebook page.
- Create an event-related image to share on social media. Here’s one I created for Paperback Book Day, which is July 30. Notice that I branded it with this site name. You’ll want to brand yours, too.
Step 4: Don’t let all of these amazing ways to honor books and reading go to waste. Take action!
Your 2023 literary calendar
Now you’re ready to make things happen. Here’s your month-by-month 2023 literary calendar.
(Please note that there’s conflicting information online about some of these dates, but we’ve tried our best to verify and validate everything. Please let us know if you have a correction or clarification.)
January 2023
National Braille Literacy Month
1 – Copyright Law Day
2 – National Science Fiction Day
8-14 – Universal Letter Writing Week
10 – Poetry at Work Day
18 – Thesaurus Day
18 – Winnie the Pooh Day (birthday of author A.A. Milne)
19 – Edgar Allan Poe’s birthday
23 – National Handwriting Day
25 – Burns Supper (Robert Burns’s birthday)
25 – Library Shelfie Day
27 – Family Literacy Day in Canada
29-February 5 – National Storytelling Week
February 2023
Library Lovers’ Month
1 – World Read Aloud Day
4 – Take Your Child to the Library Day
5-11 – Children’s Authors and Illustrators Week
7 – Charles Dickens’s birthday
9 – Read in the Bathtub Day
12 – Judy Blume’s birthday
14 – International Book Giving Day
14 – Library Lover’s Day
19 – Amy Tan’s birthday
19-25 – Freedom to Read Week in Canada
26 – Tell a Fairy Tale Day
27 – John Steinbeck’s birthday
March 2023
National Reading Month
Small Press Month
1 – International Hug a Librarian Day
2 – Read Across America Day
2 – Dr. Seuss’s birthday
2 – World Book Day in the UK and Ireland
4 – National Grammar Day
5-11 – Read an E-book Week
5-11 – Return Borrowed Books Week
16 – Freedom of Information Day
20 – World Storytelling Day
21 – World Poetry Day
26 – Robert Frost’s birthday
30 – Pencil Day
April 2023
D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything and Read) Month
National Poetry Month
School Library Month
1 – Reading is Funny Day
2 – International Children’s Book Day
2 – National Children’s Picture Book Day
2 – Hans Christian Anderson’s birthday
4 – National School Librarian Day
4 – Maya Angelou’s birthday
9 – National Unicorn Day
12 – Drop Everything and Read (D.E.A.R.) Day
12 – Beverly Cleary’s birthday
13 – Scrabble Day
13 – Celebrate Teen Literature Day
15 – Rubber Eraser Day
15 – World Art Day
16 – National Librarian Day
17 – International Haiku Poetry Day
18 – Newspaper Columnists Day
23 – Shakespeare’s birthday
23 – World Book and Copyright Day
23 – World Book Night
23-29 – National Library Week
24 – Congress approved the Library of Congress
25 – National Library Workers Day
26 – National Library Outreach Day (formerly National Bookmobile Day)
27 – Take Action for Libraries Day
27 – National Tell A Story Day
28 – Harper Lee’s birthday
28 – Great Poetry Reading Day
29 – Independent Bookstore Day
May 2023
Get Caught Reading Month
Short Story Month
1 – Mother Goose Day
2 – International Harry Potter Day
2-8 – Children’s Book Week
3 – World Press Freedom Day
5 – National Cartoonists Day
6 – Free Comic Book Day
9 – Peter Pan Day
12 – Limerick Day
16 – Love a Tree Day
20 – Eliza Doolittle Day
22 – Sherlock Holmes Day
31 – Walt Whitman’s birthday
June 2023
Audiobook Appreciation Month
Rainbow Book Month
10 – Ball Point Pen Day
12 – Anne Frank’s birthday
16 – Bloomsday (celebration of Irish writer James Joyce’s life)
22 – Octavia Butler’s birthday
23 – Typewriter patent awarded
25 – Eric Carle’s birthday
July 2023
National Anti-Boredom Month
Read an Almanac Month
11 – E.B. White’s birthday
17 – World Emoji Day
21 – Ernest Hemingway’s birthday
30 – Paperback Book Day
31 – J.K. Rowling’s birthday
August 2023
Romance Awareness Month
2 – National Coloring Book Day
9 – Book Lover’s Day (also November 4)
18 – National Bad Poetry Day
21 – Poet’s Day
31 – We Love Memoirs Day
September 2023
Be Kind to Editors and Writers Month
Library Card Sign Up Month
National Literacy Month
Read a New Book Month (also December)
4 – Richard Wright’s birthday
6 – Read a Book Day
7 – Newspaper Carrier Day
8 – International Literacy Day
18 – Read an E-book Day
22 – Hobbit Day
22 – Dear Diary Day
24 – National Punctuation Day
24 – F. Scott Fitzgerald’s birthday
25 – National Comic Book Day
29 – National Coffee Day in the U.S.
October 2023
National Book Month
National Reading Group Month
1-7 – Banned Books Week
1 – International Coffee Day
5 – National Poetry Day in the UK
6 – Mad Hatter Day
11 – Myth and Legends Day
15-21 – National Friends of Libraries Week
16 – Dictionary Day
20 – National Day on Writing
27 – National Tell a Story Day in Scotland and the UK
November 2023
National Family Literacy Month
National Memoir Writing Month
National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)
Picture Book Month
1 – National Family Literacy Day
1 – Author’s Day
2 – National Non-Fiction Day in the UK
4 – Book Lovers Day (also August 9)
13-17 – National Young Readers Week
14 – Young Readers Day
15 – I Love to Write Day
18 – High-Five a Librarian Day
29 – Louisa May Alcott’s birthday
December 2023
Read a New Book Month (also September)
7 – Letter Writing Day
10 – Dewey Decimal System Day
16 – Jane Austen’s birthday
21 – Crossword Puzzle Day
21 – National Short Story Day
24 – Jolabokaflod, Iceland’s Yule Book Flood
Need more book promotion ideas to help you take advantage of these occasions and for book marketing in general? Sign up for the Build Book Buzz 365 Daily Book Marketing Tips. You’ll get one tip every day for a year for just $1 total, and you’ll start the year off right.
Have we missed anything? If you know of a holiday or occasion that should be on this calendar but isn’t, tell us in a comment. We’ll continually update this as needed. Thanks!Â
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Thank you Sandra! I look forward to this post every year!
I’m so glad to hear that, Phoebe! We’ll be adding an option to download the calendar soon, so circle back for that!
Sandy
Great information. Thank you.
You’re welcome, Theresa! I’m glad it’s useful.
Sandy