The fair opened at 11am and the number of visitors increased with each passing hour. Book lovers queued up on both sides of Bangla Academy premises and Suhrawrady Uddyan in the afternoon.
Visitors walked around the fair, going to as many stalls as possible to find the books they are looking for. Some of the book sellers said the sale was better compared to other working days.
Meanwhile, the Bangla Academy arranged a special segment for the children in the morning. It observed ‘Shishu Prohor’ from 11am to 1pm. The event attracted a large number of children.
A painting competition with the participation of children and adolescents was held. Artist Abul Barq Alvi inaugurated the competition.
A discussion titled ‘Artist Poritosh Sen: Centenary Tribute’ was held on the main stage of the book fair. Motlub Ali, Syed Abul Maksud and Amirul lslam participated in it.
Writer Abul Monsur gave the keynote speech while cartoonist Rafiqun Nabi presided over the programme. A cultural programme, including poetry recitation, was also held at the main stage of the book fair.
Book publication
A total of 263 books hit the stands on the day. On the second day, 81 books were published. The number rose to 138 on the third day, 141 on the fourth day, 152 on the fifth day, 152 on the sixth day and 161 titles on the seventh day.
The total number of the books published in the fair so far reached 1,088 including Friday’s new titles. Some 34 novels, 83 poetry volumes, 35 short stories and 19 essay books were published on the day.
Books on research (3), rhyme (7), children literature (13), biography (11), Liberation War (7), science (3), drama (1), travelogue (5), politics (3), history (3), medicine and health (2) religion (1), computer (3), riddle (4), religion (3) translation (1), science fiction (2), dictionary (1) and others (24) were also published.
The Ekushey Book Fair is getting bigger every year in terms of participating publication houses.
Publishers from across the country are exhibiting a huge number of books on different issues while Bangla Academy is exhibiting 102 newly-printed and reprinted books this year.
The academy said its books are being sold at a 25 percent discounted price. bKash is offering a 7 percent cashback when making the payment on purchases at the Ekushey Book Fair through its payment network. The cashback is applicable on top of the publishers’ 25 percent discount on cover prices.