Publishers plan new titles to hit Kolkata book fair

The dipping temperatures are no impediment for them. With the Kolkata International Bookfair 2018 just around the corner, booksellers and publishers of the city are gearing up with brand new titles that will grab the attention of lakhs of readers thronging the fair daily from January 31.

Rupa and Co, one of the premier book publishers of the city are ready with a number of new titles in both fiction and non-fiction domains and some also in the children's book section. Shashi Tharoor's latest book, 'Why I am a Hindu' is expected to do well, as well as Sudip Chakravarti's book, 'The Bengalis'. Tharoor's earlier book, 'An era of Darkness: The British Empire in India'(2016) had earned appreciation for its sharp indictment of the British era and its impact on India.

Other books that are expected to fly off the tables are veteran politician Pranab Mukherjee's biography, Jaya Jaitly's memoirs, 'Life among the Scorpions', Ruskin Bond's 'Dragon in the Tunnel'(for children), a book on Lucknowi cuisine and a book on Ghalib. "We have a mixed bag of new titles this year. However I expect Tharoor's book and Chakravarti's book to do really well at the book fair", Raju Burman, partnerof Rupa & Co told Millennium Post.

One of the biggest Bengali publishers, Dey's Publishing, is putting out a number of new titles this year, including collected works of an eminent author, Nabaneeta Dev Sen. The first volume is ready and was gifted to Sen at a glittering function on the occasion of her 80th birthday. Other books that will see the light of the day at the book fair are Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay's 'Saat Satero' - short stories to be published in book form for the first time, 'Kishore Kalpabigyan Samagro' (science fiction stories), Bani Basu's 'Sujodhon Durjodhon' and 'Panchalkanya Krishna' as well as Pracheto Gupa's 'Ferot Asha Golpo'.

"A book by the Chief Minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, is also expected. It is likely to be a book of poems", says Subhankar Dey, one of the proprietors of Dey's Publishing. The publishing house has brought out several books penned by the CM earlier. Penguin which will have a two stall presence at the Kolkata book fair this year will be putting out important titles like Mahatma Gandhi's autobiography, the first critical edition by Tridip Suhrid, Taslima Nasreen's Dwikhandito's English translation - 'The Split', Karan Johar's autobiography - 'Unsuitable Boy' and Ruskin Bond's 'White Mice'. Books of fiction like Navonil Chakravarty's 'Cheaters' and Sujata Massay's 'Murder on Malabar Hills' are expected to do well, said Nirmalya Roychoudhury, GM Sales(east), Penguin.