When was the last time you received a handwritten letter? When was the last time you wrote a handwritten letter? According to NationalDayCalendar, "In this digital age of text and email, it's almost unheard of to sit down and compose a letter." Since today is World Letter Writing Day, perhaps, it's a good day to write a handwritten letter to someone?
Richard Simpkin, an Australian author, artist, and photographer created "World Letter Writing Day" in 2014. In the late 1990s, he wrote letters to people he considered to be Australian legends and was excited when he received letters in return. In 2005, Simpkin released his book "100 Australian Legends: The People Who Shaped a Nation." His excitement over the letters that made the project possible resulted in the creation of a day dedicated to letter writing.
According to Awareness Days, "World Letter Writing Day is an annual celebration of the handwritten letter and the personal connection it creates. It invites everyone, regardless of age or writing ability, to compose a letter to family, friends, teachers, mentors, or anyone they value. The day is deliberately low-pressure: a letter does not need to be long or eloquent, it simply needs to be genuine."
Recently, letter writing has been newsworthy due to the success of a contemporary work of fiction, "The Correspondent" by Virginia Evans, that won the 2026 Women's Prize for Fiction. The book is composed of letters to friends, family, and real-life authors — and the book's story is told entirely through these letters.
According to Julia Gillard, the 27th Prime Minister of Australia, "A remarkable novel with an exemplary combination of originality, excellence, and accessibility. It is no mean feat to write a life in letters, but Evans makes this feel effortless, asking the reader to consider the choices we make, whilst elevating an ordinary life in the most heartfelt of ways. The sheer skill required to render an emotionally resonant and engaging work in this format is spectacular."
There's a term for this type of fiction and it's relevant today. According to Wikipedia, "An epistolary novel is a novel written as a series of letters between the fictional characters of a narrative. The term is often extended to cover novels that intersperse other kinds of fictional document with the letters, most commonly diary entries and newspaper clippings, and sometimes considered to include novels composed of documents even if they do not include letters at all. More recently, epistolaries may include electronic documents such as recordings and radio, blog posts, and emails. The word epistolary is derived from Latin from the Greek word epistole meaning a letter. This type of fiction is known as epistolary fiction."
So, after reading and enjoying "The Correspondent," I ventured further into the world of epistolary fiction and read and also enjoyed the following:
(1) The Red Address Book by Sofia Lundberg: An address book serves as the focus of the novel.
(2) Life: A Love Story by Elizabeth Berg: A ninety-two-year-old writes a letter to the woman who grew up next door, describing the items she is leaving her in her will.
(3) 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff: In a series of letters between a freelance writer in New York City and a used-book dealer in London at 84, Charing Cross Road, they have a charming friendship across the miles (but not in person) based on their shared love of books.
(4) The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows: According to Amazon, "As London is emerging from the shadow of the Second World War, writer Juliet Ashton is looking for her next book subject. Who could imagine that she would find it in a letter from a man she's never met, a native of the island of Guernsey, who has come across her name written inside a book by Charles Lamb. As Juliet and her new correspondent exchange letters, Juliet is drawn into the world of this man and his friends — and what a wonderfully eccentric world it is. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society — born as a spur-of-the-moment alibi when its members were discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island — boasts a charming, funny, deeply human cast of characters, from pig farmers to phrenologists, literature lovers all."
(5) Where'd You Go, Bernadette by Maria Semple: When Bee's mother, Bernadette, disappears, Bee compiles email messages, official documents, and secret correspondence to find her mother.
Here are some ways to celebrate today:
(1) Write a letter to a loved one — they'll be happily surprised to receive it.
(2) Teach a child how to write a thank-you note — it's a lost art.
(3) Teach a child the value of having a pen pal. Read the book, "Dear Dragon: A Pen Pal Tale" by Josh Funk with illustrations by Rodolfo Montalvo. According to the book's description, "George and Blaise are pen pals, and they write letters to each other about everything: their pets, birthdays, favorite sports, and science fair projects. There's just one thing that the two friends don't know: George is a human, while Blaise is a dragon!"
(4) Support local stationery stores by purchasing engraved stationery, fountain pens, or other writing supplies.
(5) Write a letter to a member of the military. Nonprofits such as Project Heart, Operation Gratitude, Soldiers' Angels, and A Million Thanks/America 250 offer letter-writing campaigns.
(6) Join a global pen pal or postcard project like Postcrossing, which has 805,890 members in 207 countries.
And here are some related holidays:
(1) National Ballpoint Pen Day (June 10): Honoring the everyday tool that makes writing easy.
(2) National Writing Day (June 24): Encouraging people to write for fun and self-expression.
(3) Everyone Writes Day (October 21): An annual event dedicated to the joy of writing.
So, are you going to write a letter today?
SHARE THIS: The difference between the almost right word and the right word is really a large matter — it's the difference between the lightning bug and the lightning. ~Mark Twain #WorldLetterWritingDay #DebbieLaskeysBlog
Image Credit: "Writing a Letter" by Walter Granville-Smith (1900) via Meisterdrucke.
