Multicultural Children's Story celebration lights up European Writers' Day

Read Library and the University of Nicosia Library recently co-organized a two-day event titled "A Multicultural Celebration of Children's Stories" in honor of European Writers' Day, as prompted by the European Commission. The event aimed to highlight Europe's diverse linguistic heritage and promote childhood literacy.

The event kicked off on March 28 with a closed meeting where students from the University of Nicosia and other participants read selected stories, followed by discussions on the importance of literacy and translation, along with potential challenges.

On April 6, the event opened to the public, featuring stories from Cyprus, Austria, and Japan narrated in Greek, German, Japanese, and Swedish by the University of Nicosia students. Children in attendance also took part in creative writing and illustration workshops and received certificates of participation along with a copy of "Savelle's Red Dress" by Cypriot author Marina Michailidou-Kadi.

The event's proceedings will be digitized and shared for free through the Read Library digital platform. The featured books included "Savelle's Red Dress" by Marina Michailidou-Kadi and Stamatyadi Daniela, "Zu Verschenken" by Michael Roher, and "Nekokotori" by Hiroshi Tateno and Shinjitsu Nakano.

The inclusion of a Japanese fairy tale in two languages paid tribute to Japan, which this year authored the message and designed the poster for World Children's Book Day. Mrs. Yoko Majima, Deputy Head of Mission and Counselor of the Embassy of Japan in Cyprus provided valuable assistance in translating the Japanese tale into Greek.

The event's planning and coordination were overseen by Angeliki Lasithiotaki, with workshop facilitation by Marina Michailidou-Kadi and Androniki Lasithiotaki. Dr. Androula Papakyriakou guided student translators, while Mina Charalambous and Maria Pavlou led the library's directorate. Narrators included Mina Papas, Anthi Samara, Maria Yagou, Nedi Hadjisavva, Anna Kiani, Lorin Kasten, and Miki Yamamoto. The poster design was by Veronica Parpouna, and marketing was handled by Anna Antoniou from the Department of Marketing Spp Media, with Read Library as the communication sponsor.