Next year's International Kolkata Book Fair will begin on January 18, and the UK will be its theme country, the organisers said on Tuesday.

The fair, which will be held at the Central Park in Salt Lake, will continue till January 31, and have around 1,000 stalls. Besides UK, participants from Germany, the US, France, Italy, Spain, Thailand, Australia, Bangladesh, Peru, Argentina and Colombia will take part in it, Publishers and Booksellers Guild general secretary Tridib Chatterjee said.

"The International Kolkata Book Fair is the world's largest book festival in terms of attendance, and we are happy to announce that many new publishers have applied to participate in the 47th edition," he said.

"A record 26 lakh book lovers visited the fair last time, with Rs 25 crore book sales recorded," he added.

Chatterjee said the UK has historical and cultural ties with the city, and the British Council has been an integral part of the book fair for a very long.

British Deputy High Commissioner Andrew Fleming expressed delight over the UK being named as the theme country of this edition of the book fair, and said it would be a fantastic opportunity to further understanding and appreciation and foster people-to-people links.

Besides national and international publishers, book-sellers from several states, including UP, Haryana, Punjab, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, will be attending the book fair.

Alongside the book fair, the Kolkata Literature Festival will be held where writers, poets, columnists and politicians will deliberate on different issues. It will be held from January 26 to 28.

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