diff --git a/pyproject.toml b/pyproject.toml
index f80ad7e..ed2a5ea 100644
--- a/pyproject.toml
+++ b/pyproject.toml
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ dependencies = [
   "pygments>=2.19.1",
   "pygments-ashen>=0.1.2",
   "pygments-kakoune>=0.1.0",
+  "python-dateutil>=2.9.0.post0",
   "python-frontmatter>=1.1.0",
   "rich>=14.0.0",
   "typer>=0.16.0",
diff --git a/src/zona/metadata.py b/src/zona/metadata.py
index b79fccb..1ec98ab 100644
--- a/src/zona/metadata.py
+++ b/src/zona/metadata.py
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 from dataclasses import dataclass
-from rich import print
 from pathlib import Path
 from datetime import date
+from dateutil import parser as date_parser
 
 from dacite.config import Config
 from dacite.core import from_dict
@@ -23,6 +23,13 @@ class Metadata:
     post: bool | None = None
 
 
+def parse_date(raw_date: str | date | object) -> date:
+    if isinstance(raw_date, date):
+        return raw_date
+    assert isinstance(raw_date, str)
+    return date_parser.parse(raw_date).date()
+
+
 def parse_metadata(path: Path) -> tuple[Metadata, str]:
     """
     Parses a file and returns parsed Metadata and its content. Defaults
@@ -42,6 +49,7 @@ def parse_metadata(path: Path) -> tuple[Metadata, str]:
         "date": date.fromtimestamp(path.stat().st_ctime),
     }
     meta = {**defaults, **raw_meta}
+    meta["date"] = parse_date(meta.get("date"))
     try:
         metadata = from_dict(
             data_class=Metadata,
diff --git a/uv.lock b/uv.lock
index 99f170f..df8b97f 100644
--- a/uv.lock
+++ b/uv.lock
@@ -216,6 +216,18 @@ wheels = [
     { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/29/16/c8a903f4c4dffe7a12843191437d7cd8e32751d5de349d45d3fe69544e87/pytest-8.4.1-py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:539c70ba6fcead8e78eebbf1115e8b589e7565830d7d006a8723f19ac8a0afb7", size = 365474, upload-time = "2025-06-18T05:48:03.955Z" },
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "python-dateutil"
+version = "2.9.0.post0"
+source = { registry = "https://pypi.org/simple" }
+dependencies = [
+    { name = "six" },
+]
+sdist = { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/66/c0/0c8b6ad9f17a802ee498c46e004a0eb49bc148f2fd230864601a86dcf6db/python-dateutil-2.9.0.post0.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:37dd54208da7e1cd875388217d5e00ebd4179249f90fb72437e91a35459a0ad3", size = 342432, upload-time = "2024-03-01T18:36:20.211Z" }
+wheels = [
+    { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/ec/57/56b9bcc3c9c6a792fcbaf139543cee77261f3651ca9da0c93f5c1221264b/python_dateutil-2.9.0.post0-py2.py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:a8b2bc7bffae282281c8140a97d3aa9c14da0b136dfe83f850eea9a5f7470427", size = 229892, upload-time = "2024-03-01T18:36:18.57Z" },
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "python-frontmatter"
 version = "1.1.0"
@@ -301,6 +313,15 @@ wheels = [
     { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/e0/f9/0595336914c5619e5f28a1fb793285925a8cd4b432c9da0a987836c7f822/shellingham-1.5.4-py2.py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:7ecfff8f2fd72616f7481040475a65b2bf8af90a56c89140852d1120324e8686", size = 9755, upload-time = "2023-10-24T04:13:38.866Z" },
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "six"
+version = "1.17.0"
+source = { registry = "https://pypi.org/simple" }
+sdist = { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/94/e7/b2c673351809dca68a0e064b6af791aa332cf192da575fd474ed7d6f16a2/six-1.17.0.tar.gz", hash = "sha256:ff70335d468e7eb6ec65b95b99d3a2836546063f63acc5171de367e834932a81", size = 34031, upload-time = "2024-12-04T17:35:28.174Z" }
+wheels = [
+    { url = "https://files.pythonhosted.org/packages/b7/ce/149a00dd41f10bc29e5921b496af8b574d8413afcd5e30dfa0ed46c2cc5e/six-1.17.0-py2.py3-none-any.whl", hash = "sha256:4721f391ed90541fddacab5acf947aa0d3dc7d27b2e1e8eda2be8970586c3274", size = 11050, upload-time = "2024-12-04T17:35:26.475Z" },
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "typer"
 version = "0.16.0"
@@ -381,6 +402,7 @@ dependencies = [
     { name = "pygments" },
     { name = "pygments-ashen" },
     { name = "pygments-kakoune" },
+    { name = "python-dateutil" },
     { name = "python-frontmatter" },
     { name = "rich" },
     { name = "typer" },
@@ -403,6 +425,7 @@ requires-dist = [
     { name = "pygments", specifier = ">=2.19.1" },
     { name = "pygments-ashen", specifier = ">=0.1.2" },
     { name = "pygments-kakoune", specifier = ">=0.1.0" },
+    { name = "python-dateutil", specifier = ">=2.9.0.post0" },
     { name = "python-frontmatter", specifier = ">=1.1.0" },
     { name = "rich", specifier = ">=14.0.0" },
     { name = "typer", specifier = ">=0.16.0" },