The third week of Amar Ekushey Boi Mela 2015 had a little rocky start due to the sudden bout of rain in the early hours of yesterday morning. Visitors found the fair ground muddy and slippery, with many book stalls closed for the day.
Attendants at the stalls of Anya Prakash, Swarbritto and Palak publication houses were seen scooping out rain water from the stall roofs, while attendants at Bangla Prakash, Gyan Kosh and Adi Prakash were seen covering their books with plastic sheets to protect them from rainwater seeping through the roof.
“We were anticipating rain this year as it had happened last year too, so we prepared accordingly and our stalls were okay,” said Osman Gani, owner of Agamee Prakashani and president of Gyan O Srijansheel Prakashak Samity.
“But many stalls remained closed today [yesterday] as their books were soaked due to the rain,” he added.
Rabiul Hossain, attendant at Ahmad Publishing House, said at least 150 books in their stall had been destroyed by the rain.
New release hits 2,000
Yesterday marked the 15th day of this instalment of Boi Mela and saw release of 71 new titles. Of them, 15 were poetry books, 11 were novels and 7 were short stories.
Including yesterday’s release, the number of new publications this year stands at 2,000, of them 453 poetry books, 394 novels and 326 short stories.
The massive number of new releases in just two weeks is the highest in three years, according to the Boi Mela sources. The number was 1,686 in 2013 and 1,380 in 2014.
Robin Ahsan, owner of Sraban Prakashan, said the number of new arrivals in the two previous fairs was lower because of political turmoil.
“But this year, a good number of new books hit the stalls in the first two weeks because we assumed that the situation would be peaceful,” he said.
However, the sales are on the opposite side of the spectrum. According to Boi Mela sources, the sales have yet to reach the publishers’ expectations due to the ongoing blockade and hartal programmes.
Poetry titles are least sold books this year, having the highest number of releases, said several stall attendants.
