Bangla Academy to open Ekushey Book Fair on Mar 18

The Bangla Academy plans to inaugurate the Ekushey Book Fair on Mar 18 after a long delay forced by the coronavirus pandemic.

“We have decided to open the book fair on March 18 in line with our discussions with publishers,” Habibullah Sirajee, the director general of the Bangla Academy, told bdnews24.com on Monday.

"However, we are yet to decide if the fair will run for a month and when the fair will open that day.”

Although the Ekushey Book Fair typically opens on the first day of February every year, Bangla Academy appealed to the Ministry of Cultural Affair in December to suspend the event this year in light of the coronavirus crisis.

Later, the Gyan O Srijanshil Prokashok Samiti or the Academic and Creative Publishers Association of Bangladesh objected to the proposal to hold a virtual book fair, saying that they wanted the Ekushey Book Fair to be staged outdoors like every other year.

The Amar Ekushey Book Fair is the lucrative time of the year for creative book publishers. If the fair is not organised, they are at risk of incurring heavy losses.

State Minister for Cultural Affairs KM Khalid said on Jan 18 that the book fair would be held in person, even if it was delayed. He added that a proposal would be sent to the prime minister to start the book fair on Feb 20, or Mar 7 or Mar 17.

After receiving the green light from the Prime Minister's Office, the organisers of the book fair, Bangla Academy and Academic and Creative Publishers Association of Bangladesh have now decided to open the fair on Mar 18.

Asked about the matter, Cultural Affairs Secretary Badrul Arefin said, "A letter came from the Prime Minister's Office after office hours on Monday. The book fair will start on March 18."

Farid Ahmed, president of Academic and Creative Publishers Association of Bangladesh, told bdnews24.com: "In view of the coronavirus epidemic, we have to finalise the policy on how the book fair will be held in compliance with the health and safety rules.”

Publishers interested in setting up stalls at the book fair have submitted applications to Bangla Academy. The number of participants will be known once the deposits for booking stalls are made.