Your 2021 literary calendar
Now you’re ready to make things happen. Here’s your month-by-month calendar.
January
National Braille Literacy Month
1 – Copyright Law Day
2 – National Science Fiction 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)
27 – Family Literacy Day in Canada
February
Library Lovers’ Month
1-7 Children’s Authors and Illustrators Week
3 – World Read Aloud Day
6 – Take Your Child to the Library Day
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
21-27 Freedom to Read Week in Canada
27 – John Steinbeck’s birthday
26 – Tell a Fairy Tale Day
March
2 – Read Across America Day
2 – Dr. Seuss’s birthday
2-8 Read an E-book Week
4 – National Grammar Day
4 – 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
D.E.A.R. (Drop Everything and Read) Month
1 – Reading is Funny Day
1 – Poetry and the Creative Mind Day
2 – International Children’s Book Day
2 – Hans Christian Anderson’s birthday
4 – National School Librarian Day
4 – Maya Angelou’s birthday
4-10 National Library Week
6 – National Library Worker’s Day
7 – National Bookmobile Day
9 – National Unicorn Day
12 – Beverly Cleary’s birthday
13 – Scrabble Day
15 – Rubber Eraser Day
15 – World Art Day
16 – National Librarian Day
15 – Celebrate Teen Literature Day
18 – National Columnists Day
23 – Take Action for Libraries Day
23 – Shakespeare’s birthday
23 – World Book and Copyright Day
23 – English Language Day
24 – Congress approved the Library of Congress
24 – Independent Bookstore Day
27 – National Tell A Story Day
28 – Harper Lee’s birthday
28 – Great Poetry Reading Day
May
Short Story Month
Get Caught Reading Month
1 – Mother Goose Day
3-9 Children’s Book Week
2 – Harry Potter Day
4 – Free Comic Book Day
5 – National Cartoonists Day
9 – Peter Pan Day
10-14 – Reading is Fun Week
12 – Limerick Day
16 – Love a Tree Day
20 – Eliza Doolittle Day
22 – Sherlock Holmes Day
31 – Walt Whitman’s birthday
June
Audiobook Appreciation Month
GLBT 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
July
Read an Almanac Month
11 – E.B. White’s birthday
17 – World Emoji Day
21 – Ernest Hemingway’s birthday
22-24 Hemingway Days
30 – Paperback Book Day
31 – J.K. Rowling’s birthday
August
2 – National Coloring Book Day
9 – Book Lover’s 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
National Literacy Month
Read a New Book Month
4 – Richard Wright’s birthday
4 – Newspaper Carrier Day
6 – Read a Book Day
8 – International Literacy Day
19-25 – National Adult Education and Family Literacy Week
19-25 – Banned Books Week
22 – Hobbit Day
22 – Dear Diary Day
24 – F. Scott Fitzgerald’s birthday
25 – National Comic Book Day
29 – National Coffee Day in the U.S.
October
National Book Month
National Reading Group Month
1 – International Coffee Day
6 – Mad Hatter Day
11 – Myth and Legends Day
16 – Dictionary Day
18-22 – National Friends of Libraries Week
20 – National Day of Writing
27 – National Tell a Story Day in Scotland and the U.K.
November
National Novel Writing Month
Picture Book Month
National Family Literacy Month
National Memoir Writing Month
1 – National Family Literacy Day
1 – Author’s Day
2 – Book Lovers Day
4 – National Non-Fiction Day in the UK
10 – Young Readers Day
15 – I Love to Write Day
18 – High-Five a Librarian Day
29 – Louisa May Alcott’s birthday
December
Read a New Book Month
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
With many thanks to Sandra Beckworth of buildbookbuzz.com for pulling all this wonderful information together!
Thank you Sandra!
So – how are YOU going to commemorate some of these days?
- have a Rading Party (online or offline where suitable?)
- create fun GIFs and short videos for your social media accounts
- start a Book Club
https://buildbookbuzz.com/2021-literary-calendar/
