The road to Ekushey Book Fair

Since Ekushey Book Fair starts on 1st February every year and continues through the whole month, makeshift stalls of book are erected in rows around the venue. Only the publishers who have already published sufficient number of books have the privilege to get a stall. The size and location of the stall is fixed with lottery. The stalls are made with bamboo structure, jute carpet and cloth. They are adorned with colourful designs, with the name of the publishing house on the top, which attracts the visitors.

Books written by writers of old as well as new generation are brought to the fair for exhibition and selling. The books cater to the taste of all sorts of readers. There are books for the old, youth, teenagers and even for the children. There are books of short stories like novels, poems, dramas and comics. Other books are of research, both in Bangla and English. Bangla Academy has its own stall in the fair a makeshift one beside its permanent sales centre.

The fair is always full of people and it becomes excessively crowded during holidays. The fair remains open from morning till night during Fridays, when family members together with their children visit the fair. The first part of Friday is open only for Children, who are accompanied by their guardians. During this time children books make a good sale. Though there are other programmes on the day around the city, the book fair becomes the main attraction.

The Ekushey Book Fair or Amar Ekushey Grantha Mel? is a Fair of immortals of the 21st of February, popularly known as Ekushey Boi Mela and it is the national book fair of Bangladesh. It is arranged each year by Bangla Academy and takes place for the whole month of February in Dhaka. This event is dedicated to the martyrs who died on 21 February 1952 in a demonstration calling for the establishment of Bengali as one of the state languages of former East Pakistan, now Bangladesh.

Usually, the fair continues from 1 February to the 28th. It was limited only in Bangla Academy's boundary, but now it also has extended to the larger space in the Suhrawardy Uddan (Suhrawardy Ground) because of its necessity. Available books have been categorised into five groups: story (golpo), novel (uponyash), child novel (shishu shahitya), poem (kobita)… The fair also includes books about politics, history, and more topics.

Up to this day of the book fair, it covers of a few hundred new books which were unveiled, raising about 2,000 new books available at the event. The English daily Dhaka Tribune says, "People, particularly youths from different neighbourhoods and educational institutions come in groups to exchange books as gifts, visit various stalls and join conversations on different issues on contemporary literature."

The Bangla Academy has, for the first time, organised an International Literary Conference alongside the book fair. Many litterateurs from different countries are taking part in the meet. This year's fair has so many stalls showcasing books of about 400 publishers.

The news reports says the Amar Ekushey Book Fair has undergone many changes since its inception in 1972 but one thing has remained unchanged -- the relation with Dhaka University and its current and former students. Over the decades, it has grown into a phenomenal fest. This year, the fair is drawing huge crowds every day. A large section of them -- current or former DU students - were seen roaming around stalls, gossiping about authors, arguing about their works and buying books.

The Suhrawardy Udyan and Bangla Academy premises turn into the favourite destination for an evening walk during the book fair. Not everyone from the university is looking for pleasure readings. Some are gathering materials for their current semesters. The close proximity of the Dhaka University to the fair allows many students to check new titles related to their studies. Lucrative discounts have brought down the expenses of the books. We even find rare books at the fair.

This year, the fairground has been extended to 550,000 square feet. It is a welcome change. The growing compound of the fair has made visitors' movement easier. The month-long festival offers a great experience for readers of all classes of people. The fair gives a nostalgic vibe. Coming to the fair has become a routine for many readers. The fair is still a place where we find a breath of fresh air. Apart from the books, the fair is also a place to find old friends.

Seminars and events held at the fair also attract many people. They help expand my understanding of many things. The fair is a fuel for the soul. You cannot imagine any other literary festivals on this scale in Bangladesh where one is surrounded by books, books, and books.

The country's largest literature event is finally here. February is the month of meaningful cultural occasions and one of the most iconic ones is Amar Ekushey Boi Mela among others like Pahela Falgun. We repeat one of the things one needs to know about Amar Ekushey Boi Mela is that the month-long event takes place as a commemoration of the 1952 Language Movement. What started out as a mere display of books in 1972 has grown over the decades as the biggest literary event of the year. Its significance is universal.

Though the fair originally started back in 1972, but it was then an informal inauguration. Later in 1978, Bangla Academy decided to take the responsibility of turning the event into an annual fair. Almost after four decades, seeing how people react to the festival, the book fair extended to Suhrawardy Udyan in 2013, allowing more space for book lovers to show up and for accommodating more publishers.

One of the main reasons why Boi Mela has such a tremendous significance in our culture is because of the Language Movement of 1952 where people sacrificed their lives so that we could have the freedom to speak in our mother tongue.

A book fair can represent a society's reading culture and so far, the response has been overwhelmingly positive. A festival like this showcases a nation's culture, literature and heritage. Undoubtedly, the Boi Mela has been doing this exquisitely all these years. This year, the theme of the book fair is 'Bijoy: 1952 to 1971 Ebong Naboporjay'.

The Boi Mela is not only a celebratory event for avid readers but also a platform for people that encourages free expression and thought. A book-selling festival like this plays a vital role in shaping the minds of the youths of our country. Each year, the number of sales increases significantly than the previous year. At the same time, new publishers show up in the hopes of receiving a massive response in terms of sales.

Because of the Boi Mela, publishers and writers have been taking preparation over social media in order to create a hype over their books. Moreover, online bookstores are coming up with all kinds of offers, such as, massive discounts in book prices, discounted deliveries and cashback offers with the intention of exploiting the book-buying frenzy during the month centering on the Ekushey Book Fair. It is very apparent that even in this digital age, people still prefer reading books in paper format. Hence, there are a lot of prospects on online marketplaces as well.

In terms of genre, Amar Ekushey Boi Mela will not disappoint you. Starting from war literature to poetry volumes, stories collections, novels and essays, this is a literary haven for a reader. Novels sell more than poem volumes and short stories while poem collections happen to show stronger numbers in terms of getting published each year compared to other categories. In a singular month where thousands of books are published, the shops rush in to catch the attention of the mass audience. Through Boi Mela, most of the newly published writers get a hold of their readers.

A book fair is like a feast of books. To eye books of so many varieties and that too in a large number at a time is really a wonderful experience. One can easily choose his/her liked one from the heap of novels, short stories, poems, maps, arts, dictionaries, cook books, encyclopedias, etc. One of the things one needs to know about Amar Ekushey Boi Mela is that it is not only about books.

There are usually cultural programmes going on every day for people of all ages. In a world where book-reading culture is declining, book festivals like this never fail to encourage new readership. So, what are you waiting for? Celebrate the book selling festival in Bangladesh with your loved ones and visit Amar Ekushey Boi Mela today!   


The writer is a senior citizen, writes on politics, political and human-centred figures, current and international affairs