Book Fair to be held in July at Central Park Mela Ground

Kolkata: The 45th International Kolkata Book Fair will be held in July at Central Park Mela Grounds in Salt Lake. The Book Fair could not be held as per schedule between January and February this year due to the pandemic.

"The theme country for this year's book fair will be Bangladesh with 2021 being the birth centenary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and the 50th year of the country's independence. The 125th birth year of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose and birth centenary of Satyajit Ray will also be celebrated at the book fair this year," president of Publishers and BookSellers Guild, Tridib Chatterjee, said.

He said the decision to hold the book fair in July comes with the Assembly Elections and examinations of all boards like CBSE, CICSE and state boards slated to end by June.

"Adequate measures will be taken related to health safety protocols of COVID and safeguarding of stalls as the

fair is being held during the rainy season," general secretary of the Guild, Sudhanshu Dey, said.

Dey was hopeful that with the COVID situation improving, the international flights would resume by July when the Book Fair would be held.

Toufique Hasan, Deputy High Commissioner of Bangladesh in Kolkata, has appealed to the Guild authorities to allocate 50000 sq feet space for the Bangladesh pavilion this year.

"The demand for books penned by Bangladeshi authors is increasing day-by-day in Bengal.

"Moreover, more Bangladeshi publishers will be interested to participate in the Kolkata Book Fair this year as there are no book fairs scheduled to be held in Bangladesh during July," he added.

For the first time, the Guild will organise a Book Festival. 'Ekushey Bhasha Utsav' on the occasion of the International Mother Language Day will also be held.

The festival will celebrate literature, language and culture of Bengal.

The venue for the festival will be announced soon.