Amar Ekushey Book Fair begins today

The month-long Amar Ekushey Book Fair-2020 begins on Bangla Academy premises and at Suhrawardy Udyan in the capital today.

This year Bangla Academy has set the theme of the fair as "Birth Centenary of Bangabandhu" and the book fair will be dedicated to the iconic leader, marking his birth centenary.

Focusing on Bangabandhu, architect Enamul Karim Nirjhar has prepared the overall plan of the book fair.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to inaugurate the book fair as the chief guest at 3pm on the day where State Minister for Cultural Affairs KM Khalid will be present as special guest while National Professor Dr Anisuzzamanin will preside over the event.

Bangla Academy Director General Habibullah Siraji will deliver the welcome speech at the inaugural ceremony.

The main attraction of the inauguration ceremony is the official publication of the third book written by Bangabandhu titled- "Amar Dekha Naya Chin" (The New China as I Saw).

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, also the daughter of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, will unveil the cover of the book.

Like the previous years, the venue of the fair has been extended to the nearby Suhrawardy Udyan.

This year the land earmarked for the fair has been expanded to 8,00,000 square ft. A total of 873 units were allocated to 560 organisations. The authorities have allotted 179 units at the Bangla Academy ground to 126 organisations and 694 at the Suhrawardy Udyan to 434 organisations and a total of 34 pavilions have been allocated this year.

This year, little magazine chattar has been moved to main fair premises of Suhrawardy Udyan.

Small publishing companies and individuals who have published books, there will be arrangements for selling and displaying their books in the stall of the National Book Centre.

Bangla Academy and other organizations will sell their books at 25 percent commission at the fair.

Bangla Academy will also organise 'Shishu Chattar' this year where children can enjoy 'Shishu Prahar' (children time) during the fair.

A mancha (stage) for holding publication ceremonies and programmes on unveiling covers of the books has been set up at Suhrawardy Udyan.

Besides, "Chittaranjan Saha Memorial Award", "Munir Chowdhury Smriti Puraskar ", "Rokanuzzaman Khan Dadabhai Smrity Award" and "Qayyum Chowdhury memorial award" will be announced in the fair.

Publishers from across the country will come to the fair with a wide variety of books while Bangla Academy will exhibit around 200 newly-printed and reprinted books.

There will be strict security arrangements in and around the book fair venue to avert any unpleasant incident during the fair.

The fair will remain open from 3pm to 9pm from Sundays to Thursdays; and from 11am to 9pm on Fridays and Saturdays. On February 21, the fair will remain open from 8am to 8pm.