The organisers of the International Kolkata Book Fair will be setting up close to 100 smaller stalls, measuring up to 50 square feet, to accommodate small publishers who have appealed for space to mark their presence for the first time in the fair.
These will be in addition to over 900 bigger stalls, measuring between 300 and 2,000 square feet, and will be set up around the Boi Mela Prangan in Salt Lake’s Central Park, senior officials of the Publishers and Booksellers Guild said.
Last year, just about 40 such smaller stalls had been set up along the boundary of the fair venue.
“The demand for stalls has been increasing over the years. This time, it has reached a state where we have been forced to cull out space and accommodate a set of new publishers who want to mark their presence for the first time,” said Guild general secretary Sudhangshu Sekhar Dey.
The 47th edition of the International Kolkata Book Fair will be inaugurated on January 18 and continue till the 31. Chief minister Mamata Banerjee will open the fair.
The United Kingdom will be the focal theme country this year. Publishers from several countries — the US, France, Italy, Spain, Thailand, Bangladesh, Australia, Peru, Argentina and Colombia, among them — will participate.
Last year, Spain was the focal country and the fair was inaugurated on January 30.
“Most publishers have realised the returns are good if one participates in the fair. The volume of sales within almost a fortnight is quite encouraging,” said a senior official of the Guild.
Guild officials said that the last edition of the fair witnessed about 26 lakh visitors and sales worth Rs 25 crore.
The year before, about 22 lakh people had visited the fair and the volume of sales stood at close to Rs 23 crore.
“We have appealed to the Metro authorities to run more trains on the East-West route between Sealdah station and Sector V during the fair days so that book lovers can find it easier to commute,” Dey said.
Publishers from Germany will be participating in the fair after a gap of 12 years, Guild officials said. The Kolkata Literature Festival will be held from January 26 to 28.
