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.

How 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! 

You have plenty of them this year! There’s a day, week, month, or special occasion for just about every book-related topic you can think of in 2020.

Want to support your local library? Promote literacy? Get more people reading? You’ll get what you need in the 2020 literary calendar.

How to use the 2020 literary calendar

How can you take advantage of these special dates? It’s as easy as 1, 2, 3, 4. Here are the basics.

Step 1. Start by reviewing the list below and selecting those that resonate with you. For example, if you are a children’s book author, one of them might be Children’s Authors & Illustrators Week starting February 3. Is the Grapes of Wrath the best book you’ve ever read? Feburary 27, John Steinbeck’s birthday, might be for you.

Step 2. Add the dates you like to your calendar. Then schedule time before each holiday or occasion to create the materials you’ll use to promote the event. (Don’t be like me and forget to do this.) The lead time depends on what you’ll do to recognize the event, how much time you need, and whether your plan involves collaborating with others.

Step 3. Decide how you’ll recognize the occasion. Here are a few ideas:

• Write a blog post or article about why it’s important to you. This can be for your blog, for someone else’s, or on a platform such as Medium.
• Join a local library committee to plan and execute library-related events.
• Reduce the price of your book for a limited time.
• Create an event-related image to share on social media. Some themed months, weeks, and dates with an organization behind them create images you can use, too. Here’s one for Independent Bookstore Day, April 25.

Step 4: Execute your plan.

Your 2020 literary calendar

Ready to have some fun? Here’s a month-by-month breakdown.

January

1 – Copyright Law Day

2 – National Science Fiction Day

4 – World Braille Day

12 – Universal Letter Writing Week

14 –  Poetry at Work Day

18 – Thesaurus Day

18 – Winnie the Pooh Day (birthday of author A.A. Milne)

19 – Edgar Allan Poe’s birthday

22 – Library Shelfie Day

25 – Burns Supper (Robert Burns’s birthday)

January 26 – February 2 – Family Literacy Week

27 – Lewis Carroll’s birthday (author of Alice in Wonderland )

27 – Family Literacy Day in Canada

February

Library Lovers’ Month

1 – Take Your Child to the Library Day

3-7 Children’s Authors and Illustrators Week

5 – World Read Aloud Day

9 – Read in the Bathtub Day

12 –Judy Blume’s birthday

14 – International Book Giving Day

14 – Library Lovers’ Day

19 – Amy Tan’s birthday

23-29 Canada’s Freedom to Read Week

26 – Tell a Fairy Tale Day

27 – John Steinbeck’s birthday

March

1-7 – Read an E–book Week

2 – Read Across America Day

2 – Dr. Seuss’s birthday

3-9 – Return Borrowed Books Week

4 – National Grammar Day

5 – World Book Day in the UK and Ireland

16 – Freedom of Information Day

20 – World Storytelling Day

21 – World Poetry Day

26 – Robert Frost’s birthday

30 – Pencil Day

April

National Poetry Month

1 – Reading is Funny Day

1 – Poetry and the Creative Mind Day

2 – Children’s Book Day

2 – Hans Christian Anderson’s birthday

4 – School Librarian Day

4 – Maya Angelou’s birthday

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

12 – Beverly Cleary’s birthday

13 – Scrabble Day

14 – Noah Webster published American Dictionary of the English Language

15 – Rubber Eraser Day

16 – Celebrate Teen Literature Day

18 – Newspaper Columnists Day

19-25 – National Library Week

19-25 – National Poetry Week

21 – National Library Workers Day

22 – National Bookmobile Day

23 – Take Action for Libraries Day

23 – William Shakespeare’s birthday

23 – World Book and Copyright Day

23 – English Language Day

25 – Independent Bookstore Day

27 – Tell a Story Day

28 – Great Poetry Reading Day

May

Short Story Month

Get Caught Reading Month

1 – Mother Goose Day

2 – Free Comic Book Day

4-10 – Children’s Book Week

5 – National Cartoonists Day

12 – Limerick Day

22 – Sherlock Holmes Day

31 – Walt Whitman’s birthday

June

Audiobook Appreciation Month

GLBT Book Month

10 – Ballpoint Pen Day

22 – Octavia Butler’s birthday

23 – The first typewriter patent was awarded

25 – Eric Carle’s birthday

July

Read an Almanac Month

4 – National Tom Sawyer Day

11 – E.B. White’s birthday

21 – Ernest Hemingway’s birthday

30 – Paperback Book Day

31 – J.K. Rowling’s birthday

August

2 – National Coloring Book Day

9 – Book Lovers Day

18 – Bad Poetry Day

21 – Poet’s Day

31 – We Love Memoirs Day

September

Library Card Sign Up Month

Be Kind to Editors and Writers Month

Literacy Month

Read a New Book Month

4 – Richard Wright’s birthday

6 – Read a Book Day

7 – Buy a Book Day

8 – International Literacy Day

21-27 Science Literacy Week in Canada

22 – Hobbit Day

22 – Dear Diary Day

24 – F. Scott Fitzgerald’s birthday

25 – National Comic Book Day

September 27-October 2 – Banned Books Week

29 – International Coffee Day in the U.S. (October 1 in the UK)

October

National Book Month

6 – Mad Hatter Day

7 – Random Acts of Poetry Day

11 – Myth and Legends Day

16 – Dictionary Day

20 – National Day of Writing

20-26 – National Friends of Libraries Week

November

National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo)

National Memoir Writing Month

National Non-Fiction Month in the UK

Picture Book Month

National Family Literacy Month

1 – National Author’s Day

10 – Young Readers Day

15 – I Love to Write Day

18 – High Five a Librarian Day

December

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

Here’s a short disclaimer: 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.

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! 

Editor’s note 1-15-20: Thanks to an alert reader, we’ve add #123: May is Short Story Month.