Bangla Academy has started its all-out preparations to hold the month-long Amar Ekushey Book Fair, one of the most sought-after events for the booklovers and writers, at it will kick off on February 1.

“Bangla Academy has started its preparations for the book fair and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to inaugurate it,” member secretary of the Book Fair Committee Dr Jalal Uddin told UNB.

"This year's fair will be a special one, we’re decorating the fairground considering the birth centenary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Golden Jubilee of Bangladesh’s Independence,” he said.

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Indeed, the main theme of the upcoming book fair is Bangabandhu’s birth centenary and Golden Jubilee of Bangladesh, Dr Jalal added.

He said Bangla Academy will publish a series of books on Father of the Nation Sheikh Mujibur Rahman named 'Jonmo-shotobarshiki Gronthomala'.

Poet Nurul Huda, the Director General of the Academy, said, "As the final meeting on Amar Ekushey Book fair-2022 is yet to be held, I can’t make any official statement on it. The final decision is expected to come within two to three days."

Dr. Jalal said, "We, the fair committee, have already received 300 requests for allocating book stalls from different publication houses and expecting more."

On, 21st February, he said, the book fair will remain open from 8 am to 9 pm.

The fair will remain open from 3:00pm to 8:00pm on working days and from 11:00am to 8:30 pm on weekly holidays, Dr Jalal added.

Some stalls have already been set up on the open ground of the Bangla Academy.

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The month-long book fair is arranged every year in February commemorating the sacrifices of those who laid down their lives on 21 February 1952 for establishing Bangla as the mother tongue.

The traditional Amar Ekushey Book Fair began informally in 1972 at the Bangla Academy premises. However, the academy officially took the responsibility to arrange the fair regularly -- every year since 1978. It was then named as 'Amar Ekushey Grantha Mela' and a guideline was laid out in this regard in 1984.