Jamshedpur : A total of 72 publishers from across the country will showcase a rich diversity of novels, essays, short stories at the 30th Jamshedpur Book Fair starting November 14.
The ten-day annual Jamshedpur Book Fair will begin at Rabindra Bhawan at Sakchi premises here. Organised by The Tagore Society, about 72 publishers from Kolkata, New Delhi, Patna, Mumbai and other parts of the country will take part in the book fair. The fair will be inaugurated by Prof Pabitra Sarkar, former vice chancellor, Rabindra Bharati University.
Ashis Chowdhury, general secretary of the society said books in English, Hindi, Bengali, Santhali and Gurumukhi would be available in the fair. There would be more than 200 stalls at the fair.
“Book lovers eagerly wait for the annual fair. Our basic idea is to promote rich literature of different languages and so were keen to have books of all regional languages at the fair,” said Chowdhury.
He also went on to inform that all precautionary measures such as installing CCTV, fire-fighters, dog squad have been made to ensure life and property during the fair.
“Our priority is more on quality publishers and not just quantity. We would like book lovers to come and enjoy books to cultivate a reading habit,” said the secretary of Tagore Society.
During the fair the society will also organise inter-school quiz contest and debate contest for the school students.
In view of the demands of the students, this time in fair textbooks and recommended books will also be available apart from regular books.
He said that the fair would be an equal mix of books from educational to fictional. The focus would also be on books on regional languages like Gurumukhi, Urdu and Santhali etc.
“ Though sale of books have increased over the years but we want to develop reading habbits among the people similar on the lines of western countries,” said the general secretary.
It may be mentioned that Tagore Society, a city based leading educational and cultural organisation, has been organising book fair from more than two decades.
Celebrities like writer Mahashweta Devi, quizmaster Neil O’ Brien have participated in the fair. Special arrangements are being made for the fair since this is the 30 th year.
The organisers believe that the more children get exposure to a platform where publishers with so many books gather at one place. The interest in reading can thus be developed among children.