Ekushey book fair ends

The month-long Ekushey Boi Mela 2009 ended yesterday with a total sale of Tk 18 crore, down by only two crore from the previous year.
The annual event, ended on a low morale because of the tragic events in the country. Crowds were thin over the last couple of days while the mutiny lasted at the BDR headquarters.
Thousands of book lovers, however, crowded the Bangla Academy premises yesterday throughout the day to buy books or to just see what was new at the fair.
Poetry collections top the list of 2,741 new books unveiled at the fair this year, closely followed by novels and essays. Bangla Academy sold books worth Tk 58 lakh at the fair this year. It had made sales of Tk 69 lakh last year.
The new titles unveiled at the fair include 637 poetry collections, 480 novels, 205 essays, 212 children's books, 104 rhyme collections, 93 autobiographies, 80 books on research, 76 on liberation war, 40 on history, 20 satirical verses and jokes collections, 29 on religion and 181 books in other categories.
'Himur Maddhya Dupur' a novel by Humayun Ahmed from Annesha Prokashan was the best selling book at the fair, selling a staggering 60,000 copies.
The conclusion ceremony of the book fair was held at the Bangla Academy Stage with the academy president National Professor Kabir Chowdhury in the chair.
The Director general of the Academy Professor Syed Mohammad Shahed addressed the programme and thanked all concerned for their cooperation in holding the month-long fair smoothly.
The Bangla Academy authorities have awarded prizes to three stalls for their eye catching and artistic decorations. Anya Prokash, Student Wage and Muktadhara were selected for the first, second and third prizes for the year 2009.
On the last day of the fair, 79 new tittles were unveiled at the historic fair.