Did you know that 1st November is National Author’s Day?
This literary day of celebration dates back to 1928 when the president of the Illinois Women’s Club, Nellie Verne Burt McPherson (now there’s a name for a character!) proposed that a day be dedicated to recognising America’s authors. The first National Author’s Day was celebrated the following year and in 1949 was officially recognised by the US Department of Commerce and the rest is history…its been recognised far and wide ever since.
So, what is it? How do you celebrate it?
National Author’s Day is day to be dedicated to celebrating/reading books by your favourite authors. It’s a day to appreciate all those characters that you’ve wanted to grow up to be or those that you have fallen just a little bit in love with over the years. It’s also a day to pause to appreciate the hours and hours of work that go into creating those books and that the author spends developing those characters that you know so well.
In reality, there is no hard and fast way to celebrate.
You could simply take the time to read your child a bedtime story.
You could visit your local library or, if you are an author yourself, you could donate a book to your local library.
You could spare a few minutes from your day to leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads or both for a book that you’ve enjoyed. (Hint- authors thrive on those twinkling stars and kind words.)
You could take it a step further an email your favourite author to express your appreciation of their books.
You could try your hand at writing your own piece of fiction. They do say that everyone has a book in them after all.
You could gift a book to a friend. I have actually done this today but the book in question won’t be delivered to said friend for a couple of days so I don’t want to say too much.
Or you could curl up with your favourite beverage, some leftover Halloween treats and lose yourself in a good book for an hour or so.
Happy reading
Coral McCallum 