The much-awaited month-long Amar Ekushey Book Fair 2014 will begin on the Bangla Academy premises and at Suhrawardy Udyan today. This year, the fair has been dedicated to the language veteran, writer, researcher and Bangla Academy Fellow, Justice Habibur Rahman, who passed away recently. The Bangla Academy authorities have already completed all preparations for inaugurating the book fair on the academy premises at 3pm. Government institutions and organisations have set up their stalls on the Bangla Academy premises this year while all the publishing houses have set up stalls at Suhrawardy Udyan. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is scheduled to inaugurate the month-long book fair on the Bangla Academy premises at 3pm, sources said. She will visit the fair after inaugurating it. Cultural affairs minister Asaduzzaman Noor would be present as the special guest, while secretary to the cultural affairs ministry, Ranajit Kumer Biswas, and Bangla
Academy director general Shamsuzzaman Khan will deliver the welcome addresses. Academy president Professor emeritus Dr Anisuzzaman will preside over the function.
The Bangla Academy Shahitya Award 2013 would be given to nine winners at the inaugural session of the fair. Besides, internationally renowned Bangladeshi pantomime artiste Partha Pratim Majumdar would receive a fellowship on the occasion.
One of the special features of this year’s book fair is the extension of its venue to the adjacent Suhrawardy Udyan as there is insufficient space at its traditional site, the Bangla Academy premises.
A total of 534 units has been allocated to 299 organisations. Of them, 432 units have been given to 232 main publishers at Suhrawardy Udyan while 33 units have been allocated to 24 Shishu-Kishore (children’s and teenagers’ books) publishers and 69 units have been given to 43 institutions, including government, media and others, on the Bangla Academy premises. There will also be a little magazine corner, which has been named after the eminent personality of the ‘Littlemag Movement’, the late poet Khandaker Ashraf Hossain. A total of 460 units had been allocated last year to 274 organisations.
The books published from the Bangla Academy would be sold at a commission of 30
per cent while books published by other publication houses would be sold at 25 per cent commission.
The entire book fair has been arranged with different squares named after language martyrs, such as Salam, Rafique, Jabbar, Barkat and Shafiur squares, as well as after the prominent personalities who advocated recognition of International Mother Language Day, such as Rabindra, Nazrul, Abdul Karim Shahitya Bisharat, Dr Muhammad Shahidullah, Shomen Chanda, Rokeya, Sufia Kamal, Dherendranath and Rafiqul Islam squares.
As in previous years, there will be arrangements for releasing new books. The information centre has been set up on the western altar of the Bardwan Bhaban and the Media Centre for the journalists has been set up to the north side of the information centre.
A number of bulletins will be published every day, with updated news of the fair and different kinds of information being published on the website every day.
Archways have been set up at entry points to the fair and closed-circuit TV (CCTV) cameras have been installed at different points of the book fair. A temporary police camp has been set up in the fair while police, Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and plainclothes law enforcement personnel have been deployed at the fair venue. Polythene bags and smoking are not allowed at the fair.
On the main stage, seminars, discussions and cultural programmes would be held every day. Over 50 new books, published by the Bangla Academy, would be available in the fair. The book fair will remain open from 3pm to 9pm every day except holidays. On holidays, it would be open from 11am to 9pm; while on February 21, it would remain open from 8pm to 9pm.
Courtesy of The Independent
