The 42nd Kolkata International Book Fair Just Concluded

The shifting of Kolkata Book Fair venue from Milan Mela Ground near Science City to Bidhan Nagar has not affected the popularity of the event.
For the publication division of the I&B Ministry, the trump card is the book “Romain Rolland and Gandhi Correspondence”. The new edition of the book, described as a “rare collection”, has been published after a gap of two decades. The publications division, in collaboration with National Gandhi Museum, has restored the French thinker’s correspondence with the Mahatma. The book also includes his articles and diary extracts about Gandhi. 　At the Penguin stall, a set of nine books stand out. Starting from Vatsayana, the set also contains a book each by Tagore and Manto along with works by Kalidasa and others. The presence of Vatsayana’s Erotica in the set gives an indication about the target clientele of the book – foreign tourists. The stall was set up by the Information and Culture Department of West Bengal displays books by Mamata Banerjee, numbering about a dozen!　West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee made a record by penning 79 books in last six years. The number includes nine books that she released in 42nd Kolkata International Book Fair.. Banerjee, who has earlier released books in Bengali, English and Urdu, has got two of her works translated in Alchiki and Hindi this year. Of nine books, two are translated while she has written one in Urdu, one in English and five in Bengali.
The focal theme of Kolkata International Book Fair 2018 was France. This year on the occasion of the 70th year of the Indo-France diplomatic relationship, the cultural wing of the French Embassy was organized the Bonjour India Festival in selected cities of India.
UK, USA, Russia, China, Japan, Vietnam, and 11 Latin American countries were present at the fair with their huge collection. Publishers from the States of India like Delhi, Haryana, Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Gujarat, Nagaland, Assam, Uttar Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Maharashtra, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Telengana, Odisha were also an integral part of the event.
There were 42 Bangladesh themed stalls at Kolkata Book Fair 2018.
February 3rd was observed as Bangladesh Day at the book fair! A seminar on War and Liberation was arranged.
Bangladesh’s increased presence in Kolkata Book Fair 2018 is done to strengthen diplomatic relations between the two neighbouring nations.
It is the world’s largest non-trade book fair with　a total footfall of over 2 million people annually.
> Pratyusha Mukherjee, Kolkata-India