{"id":186,"date":"2010-04-15T06:25:19","date_gmt":"2010-04-15T10:25:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thebookbeat.com\/backroom\/?p=186"},"modified":"2020-05-07T13:33:42","modified_gmt":"2020-05-07T17:33:42","slug":"sant-jordi-day-international-day-of-the-book","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thebookbeat.com\/backroom\/2010\/04\/15\/sant-jordi-day-international-day-of-the-book\/","title":{"rendered":"SANT JORDI DAY AT BOOK BEAT"},"content":{"rendered":"

CELEBRATE SAINT JORDI DAY\u00a0 FRIDAY APRIL 23rd<\/span><\/h2>\n

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Buy a rose or a book for a loved one, sample fine wine, party and meet people. Saint Jordi day is a\u00a0 Spanish tradition that begins on Friday, April 23rd, 2010 from 8-10\u00a0 pm<\/strong>
\nat Book Beat. Sponsored by Elie’s Wines <\/strong><\/a>in Royal Oak and Book Beat, 26010 Greenfield, Oak Park.<\/p>\n

We will have a great selection of poetry and quality literature, gift books and many bargain priced remainders. There will be books, wine tasting, food and more. SPRING FIESTA!<\/p>\n

Sanit Jordi Day will also be celebrated at the Ferndale Public Libary <\/a>on Sunday, April 18th from 2PM-7 PM. <\/strong>This will be a wonderful pre-Saint Jordi celebration with Michigan authors, readings and more!<\/p>\n

Our friends at ELIE WINES<\/a> in Royal Oak brought the first St. Jordi day celebration to Book Beat in 2006. It was an enthusiastic success, with Catalan poetry being read and delicious wines sampled, roses and books were joyously given away. This “World Day of the Book” with its Spanish origins and its link to romance and love, is something we at Book Beat and Elie Wines have continued to celebrate as a yearly tradition here in the Detroit area.<\/p>\n

In Barcelona; almost 5 million roses will exchange hands and much kissing will take place.\u00a0 Very nice tradition.<\/span><\/h2>\n

April 23 is a symbolic day in world literature. Declared as International Day of the Book by UNESCO in 1995, this celebration of books and literature draws it’s inspiration from a Catalan tradition, the Festival of the Rose.<\/p>\n

Legend has it that Saint George, Patron Saint of Catalonia and international knight-errant, slew a dragon about to devour a beautiful Catalan princess. From the dragon’s blood sprouted a rosebush, from which the hero plucked the prettiest rose for the princess. Hence the traditional Rose Festival celebrated in Barcelona since the Middle Ages to honor chivalry and love. In 1923, this lover’s “festa” became even more poetic when it merged with “el dia del llibre”, or The Day of the Book, to mark the nearly simultaneous deaths of Miguel de Cervantes and William Shakespeare, the two giants of literary history, on April 23, 1616.<\/p>\n

On this day in Barcelona, bookstalls and street festivities run the length of the picturesque La Rambla, the old city’s main boulevard and, according to the Spanish author Garcia Lorca, “the only street in the world which I wish would never end”. Read more about this tradition at: DRAGON’S BLOOD & BOOKS- A SPRING FESTIVAL<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

“In 1995, UNESCO decided that the World Book and Copyright day would be celebrated on this date because of the Catalonian festival and because the date is also the anniversary of the birth and death of William Shakespeare<\/a>, the death of Inca Garcilaso de la Vega<\/a> and Josep Pla<\/a>, the birth of Maurice Druon<\/a>, Vladimir Nabokov<\/a>, Manuel Vallejo<\/a> and Halldor Laxness<\/a><\/p>\n

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Enjoy St. Jordi’s day! <\/strong>Links to INTERNATIONAL BOOK DAY:<\/p>\n