Ekushey Book Fair begins
02 February 2023
Moniruzzaman :
The month long 'Amar Ekuhey Book Fair', the annual festive event of booklovers, writers and publishers, kicked off on the premises of the Bangla Academy and the Suhrawardy Udyan.
The theme of this year's book fair is "Paro Boi, Garo Desh: Bangabandhur Bangladesh".
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the the Book Fair at 4.38pm on Wednessday in person on Bangla Academy premises.
Bangla Academy's Director General Mohammad Nurul Huda also delivered his speech while State Minister for Cultural Affairs KM Khalid was present at the inaugural ceremony as the special guest.
Sheikh Hasina also unveiled the cover of the seven books after the Book Fair inauguration.
Moreover, the garbage of the stalls' infrastucture were scattered at the Suhrawardy Udyan partion of the fair that turned the fair into very unlikey picture.
In the opening ceremony, PM distributed the Bangla Academy literary award-2022 among 15 poets and writers on 11 different category. Each awardees received a cheque, a crest and a certificate.
The awardees are Faruk Mahmud and Tarik Sujat in poetry, Taposh Majumder and Parvej Hossain in literature/ fiction, Masuduzzaman in essay/research, Alam Khorshed in translation, Milon Kanti Dey and Farid Ahmed Dulal in Drama, Dhrubo Esh in children's literature, Muhammad Shamsul Haque in Liberation War related research, Subhash Shingha Roy in Bangabandhu related research, Mokarrom Hossain in science fiction/environmental science, Ikhtiar Chowdhury in autobiography/travelogue, Abdul Khalek and Muhammad Abdul Jalil in folklore.
Some publishing houses were still seen struggling to set up their stalls on the opening day.
Besides, most of the stalls at Little Magazine Corner of the Suhrawardy Udyan were found yet to be prepared. No one stall of that portion could be seen displaying magazine at the opening day.
Visitors' presence at the fair was quite thin on the first day. In about 11.5 lakh square feet area, a number of 901 stalls are allocated among 601 organizations to exhibit and sell books, where 489 organisations on the Suhrawardy Udyan while 112 organisation at Bangla Academy premises.
Besides, a total of 38 pavilions distributed among big publishers making massive sales every year.
The Book Fair will remain open from 3:00pm to 9.00pm on weekdays and for holidays the time span will be 11am to 9.00 pm. Visitors will not be allowed to enter the fair after 8:30pm.
The fair is scheduled to be concluded on February 28.
