Bangladeshi books steal spotlight
While the ongoing Amar Ekushey Granthamela is drawing a large number of booklovers with each passing day, books authored by Bangladeshi writers also attracted many at the 42nd edition of the International Kolkata Book Fair.
The Bangladesh pavilion received notable responses from the visitors at the just concluded book fair in Kolkata, India.
With its Indo-Saracenic Revival architectural style, the pavilion boasting 42 stalls drew attention of Kolkata booklovers from January 30 to February 11 at Salt Lake City in Kolkata.
This year, the Bangladesh pavilion was designed replicating one of the country's historic sites -- Ahsan Manzil.
Of the 42 stalls, eight were of government organisations while 34 others showcased books published by various publishers.
Anup Datta of Mowla Brothers' stall told the news agency that the pavilion received a huge response from the visitors from the very first day.
Almost 40 percent books were sold in the first two days, he said. Bangladeshi writers, especially Humayun Ahmed, were in great demand at the fair.
Ranju Prasad Mondol, a visitor at the fair from Kalyani area, said the pavilion was a great opportunity for those who wanted to buy original copies from the Bangladeshi publishers.
People visited the pavilion with much enthusiasm and bought books of their choices, said Md Saifuddin at the Bangla Academy stall.
Bangladesh is participating in this book fair for more than two decades. Every year, the pavilion is drawing more crowd, he said.
Ahnaf Tahmid Ratul from Dhaka, who visited the fair during his visit to Kolkata, said, “It feels good to explore such a huge pavilion of our country at an international book fair.”
According to the organisers, the increased participation of Bangladesh in the Kolkata book fair is part of the strengthening diplomatic relations between the two neighbouring countries.
At the book fair, January 3 was observed as Bangladesh Day with the arrangement of a seminar on the 1971 Liberation War.
Comments