World Book Fair arrives in Capital

With just a week left, Yet again the capital city of India New Delhi is going to be the centre of attraction of the literary world, as the 18th New Delhi World Book Fair is commencing on February 02 at the Pragati Maidan, welcoming thousands of book lovers by giving them an apt chance to broaden their knowledge by searching millions of books under one roof.

Organised by the National Book Trust of India (NBT), the nine-day long festival, which concludes on February 10, of writers, readers, academicians, students and general book lovers is scheduled to be inaugurated by the Minister of Human Resource and Development, Arjun Singh.

The fair will be staged in the Hall Nos. 1 to 14 stretching the total area to more than 45,000 sq.mt. It is expected that there would be over 2,000 stalls and about 1,500 exhibitors from 23 countries, who will arrive with their literary legacy, including Germany, Russia and Vietnam.

The year 2008 has been declared as the “Year of Russia”, that's why the theme of the fair will be focussed on it, along with an International Rights Exhibition on the works of and by Mahatma Gandhi in Hall No. 7. One can access majority of books written by MK Gandhi and also books written on him.

Delhi World Book Fair, the second largest book fair in the world offers a range of books for all. It is also a single platform to the global publishing community in terms of translation, co-publishing, re-print, trade, copyrights, promotion of trade and also a sense of cultural exchange.

Being the third largest publishers of English books and also the only country to publish books in 32 languages, India is considered as the right place and Delhi with vibrant culture offers a perfect ambience for such a mega event.

Each year, the Fair serves as a host to thousands of publishers coming from different countries with a prime interest in the development of new markets.

Spot Light

This year there are several special gathering on the line including and International Rights Exhibition, Children’s Pavilion and a Youth Pavilion.
International Rights Exhibition: Dedicated to father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi, this part of the event will display some of the greatest works of and on Gandhiji in Hall No. 7 E Pragati Maidan.

Children’s Pavilion: To allure children’s interest towards reading books, the organisers have arranged several special programmes for children. Books of their interest is also planned to categorise by special children’s publishers.

Youth Pavilion: It has programmes on diverse subjects to attract the youth to the book fair and to bring them closer to various topics.

Guest of Honour: Russia will be the Guest of Honour at this fair. A number of programmes will be organised keeping in view of this. Also there will be around 80 Russian publishers showcasing their books in the upcoming exhibition.

Fast Facts

Participants: SAARC & Other Countries Venue: Hall Nos. 1 to 14, Pragati Maidan Duration: Feb 02 – Feb 10, 2008 Time: Daily 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Inauguration: Feb 02 (Saturday) at 11 a.m. in Hamsadhwani Theatre