Mother Foucault's Bookshop is bringing International Day of the Book to Portland.
International Day of the Book is an annual event organized by UNESCO to promote reading and publishing. It has its roots in the Catalonian celebration of St. George's Day, or the Day of Books and Roses, during which lovers exchange books and roses as tokens of affection.
A celebration of literature, love, and Spanish and Catalan language and culture, the event will also support local nonprofit Street Books, a mobile library that provides community, resources, and advocacy for people living outside or at the margins in Portland.
12 pm — Open to All
The event is free and open to the public. The Bookshop will have books and roses—as well as other flowers—for sale. 10% of their proceeds will go to Street Books, who will join the celebration by providing services outside the shop.
7 pm — Evening Program
The nonprofit l'école buissonnière will present an evening program inside Mother Foucault's Bookshop inspired by the traditional celebration of St. George's Day in Catalonia. Readings of Catalan and Spanish-language literature will accompany music and a version of jocs florals (floral games, a Catalonian literary competition similar to an open mic). Refreshments will also be served.
The evening's readings will be organized by two Spanish Language Scholars, Andreu Borrego Asensi and Angeles Bellitti.
““It is a pleasure to celebrate this day with Mother Foucault’s Bookshop, who also maintains the hope that things can be done well despite the constant onslaught; they also see in books the gathering point of their community. Even though Spain and the rest of the world enjoy Book Day, in Sant Jordi something extraordinary happens: the festivity of the book but also of love. To unite both concepts is not a coincidence: annotations, doodles, recommendations, underlining, presents... all manifestations where the traces of a social space struck by literature are observed… There is something extraordinary in a population that dedicates one day to books and its literature.””