The 39th edition of International Kolkata Book Fair, said to be Asia's largest bookfair, is set to begin this month end in Kolkata with the UK returning as focal theme country after a gap of 16 years.
Scheduled from January 28 to February 8, the Fair has a special focus on William Shakespeare, Dylan Thomas, W B Yeats as well as noted Bengali author Suniti Chatterji and legendary actor-director Sombhu Mitra with seperate pavillions dedicated to the five at the mega event. This year marks the birth centenaries of Chatterji and Mitra.
"After 16 years Great Britain is focal theme at Kolkata Book Fair (KBF). The Fair will be innagurated on January 27 with chief guest as the Chief Minister of West Bengal," Tridib Chatterjee, General Secretary, the Publishers & Booksellers Guild said here today.
Bangladeshi-origin British author Zia Haider Rahman will deliver on January 29 the Asoke Kumar Sarkar Memorial Lecture, an annual lecture since 1984.
"India is one of the few major markets, which is experiencing a growth in book publishing. It has over 19,000 publishers with over 90,000 titles being published each year. It is the third largest market for English books after the US and the UK," Lynes Director British Council India said.
"The UK was focal theme in Kolkata in 1998 while Scotland was focal theme in the year 2009. At this very important time in India's history we are delighted to participate in the Kolkata Book Fair," Lynes said.
The year marks the 450th birth anniversary of William Shakespeare and the Book Fair will celebrate the author and the different interpretations of his works in various Indian languages.
To mark the birth centenary of Irish poet W B Yeats, which also falls this year, the British Council together with the Wales Art International are hosting "Walking Cities," that pairs British writers with Indian counterparts to tour each others respective cities.
Welsh poets Joe Duntrhorne and Jonathan Edwards are set to 'walk the city' with Indian poets Jeet Thayil and Tishani Doshi and share their experiences at KBF.
Special printed bills offering discounts upto 15 percent for books as well as book privilege cards would be availaible for visitors at the Fair, which will introduce special mobile apps that detail stalls and other events. Special authors' corners would be availaible for fans to interact and obtain autographs of their favourite authors.
A revamped Fair website would also be up, say oganisers.
"A special theme gate, a replica of the British Natural History Museum and another gate to commemorate the 125th birth anniversary of Charlie Chaplin has been set up to greet visitors," Chatterjee said.
