Advance Booking

Some of the highlights of the nine-day-long World Book Fair that starts in the Capital today.

Written by Pallavi Pundir
February 25, 2012 03:37 AM IST

3 min read

With 1,300 exhibitors,2,500 stalls and participants from 26 countries,the biennial World Book Fair (WBF) kick-starts today at Pragati Maidan in Delhi. Celebrating 100 years of Indian cinema,the nine-day-long fair,being organised by National Book Trust (NBT) since 1972,will explore cinema and literature. The two are inseparable, says MA Sikandar,Director,NBT,while Joint Director,Farida M Naik,adds,Indian literature has always been the backbone of Indian cinema. But in the last few years,this trend hasnt been so visible. We hope Indian cinema will draw inspiration from different leagues of books that are available today. Its not just books. Talks and panel discussions by experts,cultural performances,exhibitions and even the launch of Jeffrey Archers latest book,The Sins of the Father (a sequel to his 2011 title Only Time Will Tell) there will be a lot on the readers plate.

Theatrical Effect

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In consonance with the theme Point of View: One Hundred Years of Indian Cinema,there will be a separate pavilion on films with around 400 books on Indian cinema in various languages. It will comprise a collection of autobiographies,cinematic encyclopedias and even handwritten screenplays. And though these books wont be for sale,catalogues based on these books will be. Classics such as Umrao Jaan,and Malgudi Days will be screened.

Talking Heads

Topics pertaining to literature are central to any book fair. Besides topics such as Selection of Childrens Books for Institutional Libraries: Is it quality-based? to questions such as Can e-books replace books?,this edition of WBF will explore cinema through discussions on topics such as Image of the Marginalised in Indian Cinema and Literature and Cinematic Imagination and Literary Sensibility.

Language no Bar

A wide range of regional publishing houses have found space in the fair this time. There will be publishers in languages such as Manipuri,Marathi,Oriya,Kannada,Sindhi,Urdu and even Santhali,the only tribal representation at WBF. The number of international exhibitors has also risen this year,with Thailand and Belarus as new entrants.

With inputs from Srija Mukherjee and Ardhra Nair,

students of EXIMS

The Fair is on at Pragati Maidan in Delhi from today to March 4,11 am-8 pm.

tickets are priced at Rs 20 for adults & Rs 10 for children. Contact: 26707700