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Every Friday, the staff at Literary Traveler gathers up relevant book news from around the web, bringing it together in a handy post for book lovers to peruse.  Enjoy!

• Today is a day of great literary importance: April 23rd is not only the generally accepted date of William Shakespeare’s birth, it is also the day both William Shakespeare and Miguel de Cervantes died.  Because of the historical significance, UNESCO has declared today “World Book and Copyright Day.”  Celebrate this as you best see fit.
• One possible way: check out Tony Tanner’s Prefaces to Shakespeare. Or, better yet, read one of our many pieces on Shakespeare and travel.  Here is my personal favorite: An Indian Epiphany at Stratford-upon-Avon.
• If that is too highbrow for a Friday, you might be interested in Salon‘s piece on crime fiction and comic books. Or, as some of us like to call them “graphic novels.”
• And while we’re on the topic of illustrated books, it can be fun to remember our favorite books for childhood (or our children’s favorite books!).  American author George Saunders reviews Kashtanka by Anton Chekhov. He writes: “Kashtanka is, it seems to me, the most accurately drawn dog in literature.”
• Attention aspiring poets: The Small Press Distribution Bad Poetry contest ends today! Categories for bad poems hilariously include “worst poem titled ‘Unicorns In Fog’” and “worst poem in the form of a Facebook status update.”
• The Guardian published a fascinating piece on the celebrity-chief memoir. This new genre may just produce my Beach Read Of Choice for this summer.
• And finally, those of you in the Boston area may do well to check out Off The Shelf‘s guide to Boston area author readings. Have a wonderful weekend!

Every Friday, the staff at Literary Traveler will gather up the relevant book news from around the web, bringing it together in a handy post for book lovers to peruse.  Enjoy!

• The American Book Review asked several university professors to contribute some nominees to their list of America’s 40 Worst Books.  Some of their choices are – in our humble opinion – debatable.  They’ve included a personal favorite of mine, The Great Gatsby, on the grounds that it is “smug.”  Also on the list: Richard Yates’ Revolutionary Road and Cormac McCarthy’s All The Pretty Horses.
• On this day, in 1948, Jack Kerouac turned 26.  He wrote in his journal:  “Guess what?! – on my birthday today, wrote 4500-words(!) – scribbling away till six-thirty in the morning next day. A real way to celebrate another coming of age. And am I coming of age?”  Check out Barnes and Nobel Review for more reflections.
• Dave Eggers, novelist and founder of McSweeney’s, is also blowing out the candles on his birthday cake today.  Help him celebrate (in spirit, if not in person) by checking out  this fascinating interview with Eggers about his new book, Zeitoun.
• Is it possible to become a famous poet simply through social networking?  That’s the argument Jim Behrle made the other day when speaking to a crowd at the St. Mark’s Poetry Project.  “Self promotion is the only kind of promotion left,” he said.
• Ebooks are a little scary to many of us bibliophiles, but they may be the greenest way to access academic books and other frequently-updated texts. However, the case for the e-reader is a little more complicated than it might initially seem.
• And finally, congratulations to author Gail Haveren, translator Dayla Bilu, and everyone at Melville House.  Haveren’s novel The Confessions of Noa Weber was just awarded the 2010 Translated Book Award For Fiction.