Feast awaits book lovers

The nine-day fair, one of the biggest in the world, would have 1,294 participants spread over eight halls at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi.

Book lovers will get a chance to browse through millions of books from 18 countries at the 17th World Book Fair beginning here Jan 27.

The nine-day fair, one of the biggest in the world, would have 1,294 participants, including 39 from various countries and international bodies such as ILO, WHO and Unicef.

Spread over eight halls at the Pragati Maidan fair ground, it will have 2,300 stalls and stands.

Organised by the National Book Trust (NBT), a nodal body under the ministry of human resources, the theme of the World Book Fair would be "Composite Culture in Multicultural Society".

At a two-day international seminar on the theme, thinkers, academics, scholars, creative writers and cultural ambassadors from India and abroad will deliberate on the multicultural experience of their respective countries.

Besides the seminar, India's multicultural diversity will be showcased at the theme pavilion through books, photographs, multimedia presentations and cultural programmes.

"We want to provide citizens a platform to develop a liking for books and help them enhance their reading habit. We are sure that books can take our country to new heights. The World Book Fair will help both the young and old enrich their horizon of knowledge," Subir Dutta, deputy director of NBT, told IANS.

Apart from all Indian states, the fair will see participation from 18 countries including the US, Britain, Japan, Pakistan, France, Germany, Saudi Arabia, Canada and Iran.

There would be an exclusive children's pavilion coordinated by the National Centre for Children's Literature. It will host varied activities for and by children, including workshops on bookmaking, science, creative writing and photography.

The exhibition will for the first time feature an exclusive youth pavilion.

A special pavilion will be raised to inform visitors through posters, photographs and multimedia presentations on the special status of India as guest country at the Frankfurt Book Fair 2006.

The book fair will also have a Rights Hall that will act as a nodal point to facilitate buying and selling of rights, co-publishing, translations and reprinting rights for publishers, book sellers and others related to the trade.

Special care would be taken to promote Hindi through a two-day seminar on contemporary Hindi publications where major publishers and litterateurs will deliberate on the subject.