At The Ekushey Book Fair

Mahadev Saha, one of the leading romantic poets in contemporary Bengali literature, is also a poet of mystery. He has enriched our literature since the 1960s. He has added a new dimension to Bangla poetry. Saha is offering eight new publications at the ongoing Ekushey Boi Mela.
The four new books of poems by Saha are: “Selected Poems of Mahadev Saha (Bilingual)” (from Shakti Publications), “Kichu Daynney Kichu Ba Bigan-e” (Koli Prokashoni), “Premer Kabita” (from Aninda Prokashoni), and “Nirbachito Kabita” (Jhinuk Prokashoni).
Two new books of essays by Saha are “Kar Ki Bhumika” (Aninda Prokashoni) and “Ananda-er Mrityu Nai” (Samachar Prokashoni). A new travelogue by Saha, available at the Boi Mela, is “Banglar Mati Thames-er Jol” (Bangla Prokash).
The book fair seems to me a festival of alphabets. I consider Ekushey Book Fair to be one of major cultural festivals of our country. It reflects on secularism as well as harmony among people of all religions and classes. It reminds us the philosophical aspect of Ekush.
I visited many book festivals notably in New York, Berlin, France, Delhi, Kolkata. Ekushey Book Fair is very different and unique to me. Poets, writers, readers and other professions eagerly wait for the fair around the year.
Fiction is usually sells better. But poetry is the heart of the fair. It seems to have outnumbered books of other genres at the fair and have drawn a large number of readers' attention at the fair. Along with veteran poets, promising poets are also receiving good response from readers.
I believe that the fair has been playing a key role in our literary scene over the years. It has become a symbol of nationalism, encouraging a bold stance against communalism and ignorance. The big problem of the fair is inadequate accommodation. The size of the venue should be expanded. It could easily be extended to Suhrawardy Udyan.