Ekushey Boi Mela draws rural crowd

A lot of people from rural areas are gathering everyday at Ekushey Boi Mela at the premises of Bangla Academy. Delwar Hussain, aged about 28, came to the fair yesterday with his wife Poly from Jagannatpur of Sunamganj district.
Delwar is now trying to leave for UK under a work permit. He said he likes to spend his leisure time reading novels and stories, reports The New Nation.
“I am fond of Humayun Ahmed. I just purchased his new arrival ‘Matal Haoa’.
He said that he came here to buy a good number of his favourite books.
Two friends Shahid and Jubayer came at the fair from Bogra. They are students of Bogra Azizul Haque College.
Like them, a good number of visitors were coming everyday at the fair premises from outside Dhaka city to buy books.
Prof Mesbah Kamal, teacher of the History Department of Dhaka University said that the participation of book lovers in the fair from different areas of the country is a good sign for future of Bengali literature.
He also said, “The authorities should take steps to expand the fair premise from the next year to accommodate more stalls and to ensure free movement of visitors.”
“If we can ensure participation of international writers here, the fair would get a fresh mood”, he noted.
In the fair, covers of 27 titles have been unveiled on the day. Of those, ‘Democratic State and Army’ was unveiled at the Nazrul Moncho of the fair. Prof Anwar Hossain, former general secretary of Dhaka University Teacher’s Association authored the book that contained 25 articles. Agamee Prakashani published the book. Besides, ‘Nirbachito Golpo’ by Hazera Nazrul, ‘Je Jole Chandan Mlan’ by Tahmina Kureshi, ‘Blood Speaks’ by Zazabar Osman ‘Sandha Tara’ by Syeda Ishrat Jhaha, were also uncovered.
A total of 104 titles hit the fair yesterday, the 15th day of the fair, with collections of poems dominating the list.
The new arrivals of the day include ten novels, 25 collections of poems, 16 collections of stories, 11 collections of essays, three collections of rhymes and nine collections of juvenile literature.
Bangla Academy organised a discussion on the Language Movement as a part of its series of lectures. The discussion was followed by a cultural function.

Courtesy of The New Nation