Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the month-long “Amar Ekushey Book Fair” at its traditional Bangla Academy grounds and on a part of Suhrawardy Udyan in the capital at 3pm on Saturday.
Cultural Affairs Minister Asaduzzaman Noor will be present as a special guest in the inaugural session.
Bangla Academy Director General Shamuzzaman Khan will deliver the welcome address while Professor Emeritus Anisuzzaman, chairman of the academy, will chair the programme.
Bangladesh Betar and Bangladesh Television will broadcast the inauguration ceremony live.
The Bangla Academy Literary Award 2013 will be awarded to 11 personalities at the inaugural session whose names were announced Thursday.
The awardees will receive Tk 1 lakh each, a crest and a certificate from the prime minister.
Internationally celebrated Bangladeshi mime artiste Partha Pratim Majumder would be awarded with an honorary fellowship of Bangla Academy on the occasion.
Late Justice Muhammad Habibur Rahman, who is also a language movement hero, would be paid respect at the programme, said the organisers.
The 31st Amar Ekushey Book Fair is dedicated to recently deceased Habibur Rahman, former chief justice, and chief adviser of the country's first caretaker government.
Later in the fair “Chhittaranjan Saha Smrity Purashkar” and “Munier Chowdhury Smrity Purashkar” will be awarded to the best publishers for quality publications of last year.
This year, as part of new arrangements, the government sponsored publications have set up their stalls inside the Bangla Academy premises, while all the private publishing houses will operate at the adjacent Suhrawardy Udyan.
The organisers this year are hoping for an increased number of participating publishers due to the extension of the fair.
Security has been beefed up at both the grounds, and proper arrangements for sanitation and drinking water has been made for the visitors, Director General of the academy Shamsuzzaman Khan said.
The book fair will remain open from 3pm to 9pm every day and from 11am to 9pm on holidays.
On February 21, the International Mother Language Day and Martyrs’ Day, the fair will remain open from 8am to 9pm.
The schedule for “Shishu Prahar” (children’s hour) would be announced soon, said fair organising committee Member Secretary Shahida Khatun.
The academy will provide 30% discount while other publishers would provide 25% discount on the prices of books. Wi-Fi facilities will be available at the fair.
According to the organisers, 534 stalls have been allocated to 232 publishing houses at the Suhrawardy Udyan, among which 33 stalls will hold children books of 24 publishing houses. As many as 69 stalls will hold books of 43 other publishing houses on the academy premises.
A little magazine corner with 55 publishing houses has been set up at the academy premises in memory of late poet Khondokar Ashraf Hossain, vice-chancellor of Jatiya Kabi Nazrul Islam University in Mymensingh and former professor of Dhaka University.
Last year, the Bangla Academy premises held 274 institutions within the premises, creating a congested atmosphere for book lovers. This year should be different as Cultural Affairs Minister Asaduzzaman Noor approved the proposal of extending the fair to Suhrawardy Udyan.
According to the Bangla Academy officials, a total of 299 publishing houses, government, non-government and socio-cultural organisations are participating in this year’s event.
The book fair was held for the first time in 1972 in an informal manner at the Bangla Academy premises. Later it was institutionalised in 1978.
In 1984, the fair was named as the Amar Ekushey Grantha Mela.
