Tbilisi, Georgia has been designated as the world book capital come year 2021, the announcement was made by Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO Director-General.
The World Book Capital is an annual event that marks the World Book and Copyright Day, in a city designated by UNESCO. The event is meant to promote the enjoyment of books and reading. Each year, on 23rd April, celebrations take place all over the world to recognize the scope of books – a link between the past and the future, a bridge between generations and across cultures.
23rd April is symbolic in the history of literature being that, it was the day when iconic writers such as William Shakespeare, Miguel Cervantes and Inca Garcilaso de la Vega all died.
Cities previously designated as World Book Capital, since its inception in 2001 are; Madrid, Spain (2001), Alexandria, Egypt (2002), New Delhi, India (2003), Antwerp, Belgium (2004), Montreal, Canada (2005), Turin, Italy (2006), Bogota, Colombia (2007), Amsterdam, Netherlands (2008), Beirut, Lebanon (2009), Ljubljana, Slovenia (2010), Buenos Aires, Argentina (2011), Yerevan, Armenia (2012), Bangkok, Thailand (2013), Port Harcourt, Nigeria (2014), Incheon, South Korea (2015), Wroclaw, Poland (2016), Conakry, Republic of Guinea (2017), Athens, Greece (2018), Sharjah, UAE (2019), and Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (2020).
The designation of Tbilisi, Georgia as the World Book Capital come 2021 is based on the recommendation of the World Book Capital Advisory Committee, which met in Switzerland in June, 2019.