Public holiday observed in Galicia, Spain
| Galician Literature Day |
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 In 2018 |
| Official name | Día das Letras Galegas |
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| Observed by | Galicia, Spain |
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| Type | Cultural |
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| Date | May 17 |
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| Next time | May 17, 2024 (2024-05-17) |
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| Frequency | annual |
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Galician Literature Day (Galician: Día das Letras Galegas) is a public holiday observed in Galicia, Spain. It is a celebration of the Galician language and its literature which was inaugurated by the Royal Galician Academy (Real Academia Galega) in 1963. This celebration has taken place on May 17 each year since 1963.[1] In the year 1991 Galician Literature Day was declared a public holiday in all Galicia.[2]
The first celebration took place in 1963 to commemorate the centenary of Cantares gallegos, the first contemporary work written in the Galician language by Rosalía de Castro (1837–1885), who later became one of the most important poets in the history of Galicia. Cantares gallegos was first published on May 17, 1863.[1]
Since 1963, each Galician Literature Day has been dedicated to a different writer in the Galician language. Only writers who have been dead for at least ten years are eligible, and the choice is made by the Royal Galician Academy.[2] There is only one precedent of a "shared" Day: in 1998, the day was dedicated to Martín Codax, Xohán de Cangas and Mendinho, together with the authors of the medieval songs (cantigas).[citation needed]
History
On the 20th of March 1963, three members of the Royal Galician Academy (Manuel Gómez Román, Xesús Ferro Couselo e Francisco Fernández del Riego) presented this institution with the proposal to celebrate the 17th of May to gather the “material heartbeat of the Galician intellectual activity”. They estimated that the book of poems by Rosalía de Castro (Cantares Gallegos) was the first masterpiece of contemporary Galician literature, and therefore the inaugurator of the literary movement known as O Rexurdimento. The real date of publication of Cantares Gallegos is actually unknown, but this day was chosen due to the written dedication from Rosalía to the Galician writer Cecilia Böhl de Faber (Fernán Caballero).[3]
To commemorate the first Galician Literature Day, a critical edition of Cantares Gallegos was published by famous writer Fermín Bouza-Brey. The festivity had an extraordinary reach and significance, and it was well received not only among the literary elite, but also among the general public. From this day, this festivity is celebrated every year and it is dedicated to a significant figure of Galician literature. The sole condition is that on the year of the year of their commemoration, a minimum of ten years must have passed since the death of the honoured person.
Officially, it has been a public holiday in Galicia since 1991.[4]
In 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Academy announced that for the first time in its 57-year history, the celebration would not take place on May 17, moving instead to October 31, just one day after the 110th birthday of the honouree, Ricardo Carvalho Calero. Finally, health restrictions meant that the act had to be postponed again, until December 12.
List of authors honoured on Galician Literature Day
These are the authors who have been honored on Galician Literature Day:[2]
