EKUSHEY BOOK FAIR : New books few, fewer still buyers [ Tritiyo Matra News ]

EKUSHEY BOOK FAIR : New books few, fewer still buyers

Local February 03, 2016

Litterateurs, academics and others will be honoured through special discussions on their life, works and contribution during the month-long Ekushey Book Fair.
Discussions will also be held on the past and the present of juvenile literature, liberation war and studies on Rabindranath Tagore, Kazi Nazrul Islam, Jibanananda Das and others.
The fair on its second day on Tuesday saw a little increase in the number of visitors, who mostly leafed through titles to have an idea about what books they would be buying in the coming days, publishers and stall attendants said.
The annual book fair organised at Bangla Academy and Suhrawardy Udyan gave some breathing space to the busy city life, but many people visiting stalls in Suhrawardy Udyan part have complained about dust.
Barring from several stalls, all were found displaying books and waiting for buyers.
Masud Rana, publisher of Absar Prakashani, said the visitors were coming but most of them were just browsing the titles.
‘The fair will get momentum from Friday,’ he said.
The fair organising committee has prepared the schedule and set topics for the discussion sessions that will take place every day at 4:00pm.
‘This year we are focusing on some eminent personalities including litterateurs, bauls and academics and others,’ said Bangla Academy director Abdul Hye.
new04 The committee will also hold a discussion on the historic six-point demand on February 27 as this year is the 50th year of the movement.
The six-point demand is a charter of demands enunciated by the Bengali people for removing disparity between the two wings of the then Pakistan and to put an end to the internal colonial rule of West Pakistan in East Bengal, that eventually culminated in liberation of the country.
The committee will hold discussions on the past and the present situation of research, dictionaries, folklore, translation, textbook section of Bangla Academy in between February 4 to February 9.
Discussions on juvenile literature will be held on February 10, on Amar Ekushey Granthamela on February 11, Nazrul studies on February 12, liberation studies on February 13, Rabindranath Tagore on February 14 and Jibanananda Das on February 15.
The academy will recall Shawkat Osman by arranging a discussion on the occasion of the 100th birth anniversary of the Bangladeshi novelist and short story writer on February 17.
It will hold discussions on poet Ahsan Habib on February 18 and baul Shah Abdul Karim on February 22 on the occasion of birth centenary of both the towering personalities of the country.
Academy will also recall contribution of Radha Raman Dutta, an influential music composer and lyricist of Sylhet on his 100th death anniversary on February 19.
On Tuesday, the academy organised a discussion on sixty years of Bangla Academy.
Only seven new titles hit the fair on the day, said officials at the fair information centre, adding that most of the stall owners did not send the list.
The fair will open at 3:00pm and continue till 8:00pm on working days, while from 11:00am to 8:00pm on holidays.
On International Mother Language Day on February 21, the fair will open at 8:00am and continue till 8:00pm without any break.
Member secretary of the fair committee Jalal Ahmed said they had taken step to sprinkle water to contain dust in the fair ground and hoped that stall owners would complete decorations by today.