Enthusiastic response to 31st New Delhi Book Fair
A convening centre for literary nerds, emerging authors and globally prominent publishing houses, the New Delhi World Book Fair that kicked off amidst a full-house after the three-year pandemic-induced hiatus has garnered a very enthusiastic response. Organised by the National Book Trust of India, in collaboration with India Trade Promotion Organisation (ITPO) at Pragati Maidan, the eminent literary event that spans five decades of heritage celebrates its 31st edition this year. The partner country this year is France, which is present in strength at the fair.
There are several novel features about the fair, most importantly, for exhibitors and visitors alike is a completely renovated Pragati Maidan which has earned praise from all as visitors are welcomed to aesthetically designed Authors’ Sections in the ongoing book fair. As it is part of the 75th anniversary celebrations of the Indian Independence themes around India’s socio-cultural, political and cultural aspects are among the key highlights.
As the fair enters its last weekend, the participants say they are pleased with the response they have elicited from visitors. Ankush Kumar is a Hindi writer who is at the fair to promote his calligraphy as part of Hindinama, a Delhi-based publisher that has partnered with another publisher Hind Yugm to participate in the fair.
Kumar says that as the modern readership is changing, publication houses are adopting different strategies to reach out to them. “To attract more readers, Hind Yugm is opting for an easy to understand, simple, contemporary Hindi language usage in it books that caters to a mass audience. This has marked a noteworthy increase in the number of Hindi readers and reflected as a good opportunity for modern-day Hindi writers to diversify their stories, beyond the language barrier,’’ Kumar tells Media India Group.
Kumar has designed a customised calendar, whereby visitors can choose their own calligraphy style. He says it has received a very positive response from the audience and was among one of the bestsellers at the stall.
Another emerging topic of focus at the fair are the advancements in the field of Artificial Intelligence or AI Robotics and their application to publishing.
Established Indian publishing houses like Penguin and Rupa Publications have retained their position as the greatest crowd pullers this year as well. The book fair also has a large and well-represented Children’s Pavilion dedicated to children’s literature.
Publishers of educational books, especially children’s school books, are also present in strength at the fair, with their complete bibliography of books for school children.
