It is encouraging to see the month-long Amar Ekushey book fair extend from its customary Bangla Academy grounds into more of Suhrawardy Uddyan.
The event is a huge part of our cultural calendar and we hope that its expansion this year will inspire many new authors and readers as well as further developing the area’s cultural hub.
Our annual book fair is not only a place for authors, publishers, and readers to build links with one another. It offers a special opportunity to glance into how far we have been able to develop our language and literature.
This should include increasing the reach and extent of our culture around the world. The prime minister was right at the inauguration of the fair, to have called for more effort to be put into translating the finest creations of Bangla literature into other languages.
Translating more Bangla literature into other languages would familiarise more of the world with our extraordinary collection of literary masterpieces.
Potentially this proposal could help establish more writers in the global arena. We hope the Bangla Academy can work with the government, translators and publishers to carry forward this idea in practice.
That way, in addition to pleasing the large crowds who are drawn to the book fair every year, this year’s Ekushey can give our authors the opportunity of reaching out to a much larger audience.
