Iran will participate in the International Kolkata Book Fair for the first time, the Publishers and Booksellers’ Guild said on Tuesday.
Iran will be part of a contingent of publishers from 20 other countries at the 45th edition of the Book Fair scheduled from February 28 to March 13.
Chief minister Mamata Banerjee is scheduled to inaugurate the event at Central Park in Salt Lake. The fair could not be held last year because of the pandemic.
Among the guests will be K.M. Khalid, Bangladesh’s minister for cultural affairs and Bangladeshi author Selina Hossain.
Bangladesh is the fair’s “theme country” this year.
The book fair will have 600 stalls and another 200 dedicated to publishers of little magazines.
The fair will also have a mukta mancha (open stage) named after the late actor Soumitra Chatterjee.
“There will be nine entry and exit gates. Three of these gates will be the replica of three books penned by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman,” said Sudhangshu Sekhar Dey, the Guild’s president. “Among the other gates, there will be Biswa Bangla gate, Satyajit Ray gate and a one named after Abanindranath Tagore.”
“An Android app to locate any stall at the fair will soon be available,” said Tridib Chattopadhayay, the general secretary of the Guild.
A lottery will be held on four days and one lucky winner on each of those days will win a book gift coupon of Rs 25,000 each.