EKUSHEY BOOK FAIR
Few buyers, more browsers
Staff correspondent
Sales of books are yet to get momentum at Amar Ekushey Granthamela 2009, with a few visitors buying books and a good number merely browsing through the titles before they decide which one to buy later on in the month-long book fair.
On the fourth day on Wednesday, visitors were found moving round from a stall to another while a small number picked up their titles of choice. ‘I came to the fair with friends to have some fun and to have a look on the books of my favourite writers that have arrived at the fair,’ said Fahmida Redwana, an East-West University student.
Many stalls like Knowledge Media Publications, Bangladesh Muktijuddha Samanway Parishad, Bangladesh Cultural Forum, Ujjiban Prakashani are selling titles of other publishers, which is a clear violation of the fair rules.
When asked about the issue, the Bangla Academy director general, Syed Mohammad Shahed, said, ‘We have formed three vigilance teams to look into this type of irregularity. The teams will start working from tomorrow (Thursday).’
Visitors at the fair complained about toilet facilities at the fair. Especially the female visitors faced the problem most.
‘Lack of toilets at the fair ground is not acceptable in an event like this,’ Swapna, a female visitor, complained.
A total of 90 new titles hit the fair on the fourth day. They included 27 novels, 12 collections of short stories and 14 collections poems and five collections of juvenile stories. Five books were launched at the lekhak kunja (writers’ corner).
The Dhaka University vice-chancellor, Professor AAMS Arefin Siddque, and the pro-vice-chancellor, Professor Harun-ur-Rashid, were present at a launching ceremony of a book titled ‘Bangabandhur Rashtrachinta Abang Bartaman Bangladesh’ authored by Shamsuzzaman Khan and published by Bijoy Prakash.
The academy held a seminar on women as a part of the month-long series seminar entitled ‘Prospective Bangladesh’ in the afternoon.
Sonia Nishat Amin, a professor at Dhaka University, read out the keynote paper at the seminar, while Mahfuja Khanam, Maleka Begum, Ayesha Begum took part in the discussion.
The seminar was chaired by Professor Syed Anwar Husain of Dhaka University. A cultural programme was followed by the seminar.
The academy will hold a seminar on agriculture today. Shaikh Siraj will read out the keynote paper and Jahangir Alam, Md Abdur Rahaman Sarker and Ferdousi Begum will take part in the seminar to be presided over by Md Azizul Haque. It will be followed by a cultural programme.
Courtesty: newagebd.com
