World Novel Week 2022
World Novel Week was proclaimed at the 41st session of the UNESCO General Conference in 2021 and takes place every year during the week of 13 October. It aims to encourage the appreciation of literature as an expression of human creativity, promote reading, and raise awareness of the important role of writers as key contributors to knowledge sharing and cultural diversity, in line with the 2005 Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions and the 1980 Recommendation concerning the Status of the Artist.
For novelists, poets, screenwriters, playwrights, literary critics, publishers and many others, World Novel Week champions their contributions to interculturality, supports their rights and strengthens book industries around the world. On this occasion, UNESCO invites everyone to celebrate writers, and the creativity, diversity and access to culture and knowledge that they provide us.
The ability of novels to create relationships and to foster understanding and mutual respect between individuals, peoples and generations – in short, the role the novel plays in promoting peace – was behind the decision made last November by UNESCO's General Conference to begin celebrating World Novel Week.
Ms Audrey Azoulay
Director-General of UNESCO
Message from the Director-General - UNESCO
Download the complete message in PDF format
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