Curtain falls on Ekushey Book Fair

The curtain came down on the month-long Amar Ekushey Book Fair at the Bangla Academy on Friday with a large number of booklovers thronging the fair on the last day.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 28 Feb 2014, 04:59 PM
Updated : 1 March 2014, 06:36 AM

Long queues could be seen at the Bangla Academy gate, extending up to the Dhaka University’s Teacher-Student Centre (TSC) area to the west, Curzon Hall area to the east, and the fair’s extended part in the Suhrawardy Udyan.

Booklovers also waited in long queues in front of the stalls of several publications, including ‘Onno Prokash’, ‘Tamrolipi’, ‘Somoy Prokashon’ and ‘Agami Prokashoni’.

Mazharul Islam, Director and Publisher of Onno Prokash, said that the demand for the books written by the late and eminent writer Humayun Ahmed was very high.

“Although Humayun Ahmed is no more, he has left behind a huge number of readers. The author’s books are selling in large numbers this year, too.”

Somoy Prokashon’s Publisher Farid Ahmed said that the sale of books were the highest this year on the concluding day. “Most of the people who came to the fair earlier this year were visitors. But the number of book buyers is the highest today.”

Friday being a public holiday, Animesh Mridha came to the fair along with his family from Tongi.

“I like the books on the country’s history of the Liberation War. I’ve bought a thriller by Dr Muhammad Zafar Iqbal (eminent scholar and popular author) for my children and some books of Humayun Ahmed for my wife.”

A total of 2,959 new titles hit this year’s book fair.

A total of 299 stalls of 534 units were allotted to publishing houses and participating agencies. Of them, 432 units were allotted to 232 mainstream publishers, 33 units for 24 children's book corner and 69 units for the 43 institutions including media centre and 55 units for open stalls of little magazines.

A total of 710 books of poems, 502 novels and 392 story books were released in the fair which also saw of some 105 books for children being released.
Besides, 199 collections of essays, 114 rhymes, 92 biographies, 54 research books and 57 books on liberation war, 33 on dramas, 41 titles on science, 71 travelogues, 14 titles on politics, 42 titles on history,258 on translation, 71 on satire, 26 on medical science, 11 on computer learning, 33 on science fiction, 38 religion, four on dictionaries and 313 on different subjects also were among the list of new arrivals.
The book fair was started by the Muktodhara Publishing house, in front of the Bangla Academy in the 21st February 1972.
Later, other book publishers joined in. Gradually, it became the most popular book fair of Bangladesh.
Bangla Academy started organising the fair from 1978.
In 1984 it was named Amar Ekushey Book Fair. Notably, in 1990s, another national book fair called Dhaka Boi Mela was initiated.