Starting this Wednesday (and for one whole year) Amsterdam will be World Book Capital. The title granted by UNESCO will reaffirm Amsterdam's international reputation as a place of refuge for free speech and the written word.

Ever since the Golden Age of the Dutch Republic in the 17th century, Amsterdam has been a world book capital with a leading reputation in the Netherlands and beyond. Amsterdam has always opened its doors to writers fleeing oppression elsewhere. Along with the open-mindedness of the book trade, this tradition has ensured the Dutch capital’s thriving success as a literary hub, as a home to many industrious writers, printers, bookshops, publishers and antiquarian booksellers.

These events seem worth visiting:

May 18: Biggest book market of Europe in the streets of Amsterdam.

June 1 - September 8: Poetry in the Park. Two days of poetry in ten of Amsterdam's city parks. The project starts in the Vondelpark and will end in the Westerpark.

July 1 - August 31: Exhibition about Anne Frank in the new Public Library

September 1 - October 31: Exhibition about Spinoza in the new Public Library