On 16 April 2016, Westminster Abbey publicly marked the anniversary of Behn's death, honoring her as one of the first women to earn a living by writing.
On 16 April 2016, exactly 327 years after her death, Westminster Abbey published a public commemorative statement marking the anniversary, describing Aphra Behn as "one of the first women to earn a living by writing" and noting the location of her burial within the Abbey's East Cloister.
This modern act of institutional remembrance reflects the ongoing rehabilitation of Behn's reputation within official heritage and cultural institutions, a process that gained significant momentum following Virginia Woolf's celebrated tribute in 1929. Westminster Abbey, as one of Britain's most prominent sites of national memory and commemoration, lending its platform to honor Behn signals her firm establishment within the canon of nationally significant historical figures.
The commemoration also served an educational and public engagement function, introducing new audiences — particularly on social media — to a figure whose extraordinary career as playwright, poet, novelist, and former intelligence operative for Charles II might otherwise remain obscure outside academic literary studies. Such anniversary commemorations have played a meaningful role in sustaining public interest in Behn's life and work, ensuring her story continues to be told, discussed, and reassessed by new generations centuries after her death.