Hectic last-minute preparation for the upcoming month-long book fair beginning February 1 is going on in full swing at the Bangla Academy premises and the expanded Suhrawardy Udyan. The even will draw tens of thousands of book lovers at the book fair. Publishers, printers, binders, and transporters are working relentlessly as they strive to ensure that books for the fair are ready on time. “Our preparation is at the final stage. The academy compound is almost ready and the rest of the work would be finished shortly,” said Habibullah Siraji, director general of Bangla Academy.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the book fair while the Bangla Academy literature award will also be distributed at the opening ceremony. This year, the fair is being arranged covering larger areas, aiming to accommodate more publishing houses and book lovers.
Commemorating the historic Language Movement of February 1952, Bangla Academy organises the book fair on its premises every year. Thousands of book lovers from across the country throng the fair venue throughout the month to buy books. Visiting the fair venue, our correspondent found workers busy preparing and designing their stalls on the Bangla Academy premises and in the extended part of the fair at Suhrawardy Udyan.
The correspondent found that the publishing companies who got allotment have already started setting up stalls. Workers were found busy in installation of pavilions and stalls to complete those within the deadline set on January 30 noon. Member secretary of the fair organizing committee Jalal Ahmed said that they are well-prepared to hold the fair smoothly.
We’ve completed all the formalities. We’ve allotted the stalls earlier which will help the publishers install their stalls properly. The number of units has been increased while the fairground has been expanded, he said. Jalal said the fair will be dedicated to Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman while his life and works will be showcased in the fair in different ways marking his birth centenary.
He also said a total of 830 units have been allocated to 550 publishers on January 13.
This year, the land earmarked for the fair has been expanded to 850,000 square feet which is 300,000 square feet more than that of the previous year, he added. The fair venue was first extended to Suhrawardy Udyan in 2013 to accommodate more participants. He also added that 34 pavilions have been allotted to publishing houses, including the Bangla Academy. The total number of the pavilions was 24 last year.
Two honorary guests - Indian poet Shankha Ghosh and Egyptian writer and poet Mohsin Al Arishiare expected to grace the opening ceremony. Writers and publishers are also busy promoting their books on the social media ahead of the grand fair. Publishers expressed their satisfaction to reporters as the academy has allotted stalls for them on January 13, much earlier than the previous year.
Ten personalities have been declared as recipients of the Bangla Academy Sahitya Puraskar 2019 on Thursday. The award winners are Wasi Ahmed for fiction, Makid Haider for poetry, Swarochish Sarker for research article, Khairul Alam Sabuj for translation, Faruk Moinuddin for autobiography, memoir or travelogue, Ratan Siddiki for theatre, Nadira Majumder for science and science-fiction, Rahim Shah for children's literature, Simon Zakaria for folklore, and Bir Uttam Rafiqul Islam for Liberation War research.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will present the award crests to the winners in the inaugural ceremony of the upcoming Ekushey Boi Mela. The fair will remain open every day from 3pm to 830pm, except for holidays. It will remain open on holidays from 11am to 8pm and the fair will run from 8am to 9pm.
The fair began informally in 1972 on Bangla Academy premises but the academy officially took the responsibility in 1978 to organise the book fair every year. It was then named as ‘Amar Ekushey Grantha Mela’ and a guideline was laid out in this regard in 1984, according to the organisers.
