Galician Literature Day

Galician Literature Day 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. In the year 1991 Galician Literature Day was declared a public holiday in all Galicia.
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.
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. 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).
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).
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.
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:
1963 Rosalía de Castro
1964 Alfonso Daniel Rodríguez Castelao
1965 Eduardo Pondal
1966 Francisco Añón Paz
1967 Manuel Curros Enríquez
1968 Florentino López Cuevillas
1969 Antonio Noriega Varela
1970 Marcial Valladares Núñez
1971 Gonzalo López Abente
1972 Valentín Lamas Carvajal
1973 Manuel Lago González
1974 Johán Vicente Viqueira
1975 Xoán Manuel Pintos Villar
1976 Ramón Cabanillas
1977 Antón Vilar Ponte
1978
1979 Manuel Antonio
1980 Afonso X o Sabio
1981 Vicente Risco
1982 Luís Amado Carballo
1983 Manuel Leiras Pulpeiro
1984 Armando Cotarelo Valledor
1985 Antón Lousada Diéguez
1986 Aquilino Iglesia Alvariño
1987 Francisca Herrera Garrido
1988 Ramón Otero Pedrayo
1989 Celso Emilio Ferreiro
1990 Luís Pimentel
1991 Álvaro Cunqueiro
1992 Fermín Bouza-Brey
1993 Eduardo Blanco Amor
1994 Luis Seoane
1995 Rafael Dieste
1996 Xesús Ferro Couselo
1997 Ánxel Fole
1998 Martín Codax, Xohán de Cangas and Mendinho; together with the authors of the medieval songs (cantigas)
1999 Roberto Blanco Torres
2000 Manuel Murguía
2001 Eladio Rodríguez
2002 Frei Martín Sarmiento
2003 Antón Avilés de Taramancos
2004 Xaquín Lorenzo
2005 Lorenzo Varela
2006 Manuel Lugrís Freire
2007 María Mariño Carou
2008 Xosé María Álvarez Blázquez
2009 Ramón Piñeiro López
2010 Uxío Novoneyra
2011 Lois Pereiro
2012 Valentín Paz-Andrade
2013 Roberto Vidal Bolaño
2014 Xosé María Díaz Castro
2015 Xosé Filgueira Valverde
2016 Manuel María
2017 Carlos Casares
2018 María Victoria Moreno
2019 Antón Fraguas
2020 Ricardo Carballo Calero
2021 Xela Arias
2022 Florencio Delgado
2023 Francisco Fernández del Riego
2024 Luisa Villalta
References
External links
Real Academia Galega
May observances
Language observances
Galician culture
Annual events in Galicia (Spain)
Public holidays in Spain