For Bangladesh publishers,Bengal expansive market

From yet unpublished works of Sheikh Hasina published by Pearl Publication to translations of Orhan Pamuk by Vidyaprakash,the local publishing scene is abuzz with activity. “We have been coming up with some very good translation and original work. It would be great if we could find a market for it in Bengal. As of now,the readers’ interest in our books over the last couple of days has been very encouraging,” says a spokesperson for Vidyaprakash.

Zafar Ahmad Rashed,assistant editor with the largest selling Bengali daily in Bangladesh,Prathama,agrees that Bengal is a potential market for the books. “It will be also great if we could tie up with publishers and book sellers here. The printing cost in Bangladesh is mammoth and the rates here are far more reasonable than in Bangladesh,” he says.

Farid Ahmed,executive director of the Academic and Creative Publishers’ Association of Bangladesh has his sights set on the Bengal market. “We have everything from science fiction to popular campus fiction in Bengali. Writers like Humayun Ahmed can be easily called the Sunil Gangopadhyay of Bangladesh. Sci fi writers Mohammad Jafar Iqbal,Hasan Azizul Haq and Selina Hasan too are very important voices of our times. Since we have a shared history,I am sure Bengal will be able to appreciate their writings too,” says Ahmed,who will be meeting members of the Publishers and Booksellers Guild in Kolkata to look at possibilities of expansion.

India,for the last couple of years has been the chosen destination for an expanding breed of English fiction writers from Bangladesh. Publishers like Penguin and Zubaan have published quite a few works of first-time Bangaldeshi authors.

“The 70 per cent tax we slap on imported books does not help. In India,books are delightfully affordable. Another thing India has done right is that the writers have freedom of speech,” says Shazia Omar,who was a publisher in Bangladesh.