Bangla Academy authorities have completed the arrangement to launch Ekushey Book Fair on the very first day of February on Sunday.

An international literature conference during the book festival is also expected to add extra flavour to the decades-old exhibition.

Marking 60 years of Bangla Academy’s inception, the authorities is organising the international conference on 2 February, said Bangla Academy director general Shamshuzzaman Khan while briefing the journalists at the academy’s Abdul Karim Sahitya Bisharad auditorium on Saturday.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the month-long exhibition on 1 February at 3:00pm, Shamshuzzaman Khan added.

The premiere will also hand over Bangla Academy Awards 2014 to its recipients on the inaugural ceremony.

This year, a total of 565 stalls have been allocated to 351 publishing houses and organisations. Of those, 259 will exhibit their products at Suhrawardy Udyan while 92 others at Bangla Academy premises.

For the first time there will be 11 pavilions allocated to different publishing organisations, including the academy.

Besides, there will also be Little Magazine Corner in the fair and special four days dedicated to children only.

The fair premises will be monitored by 75 closed-circuit surveillance cameras. Security will also be tight there.

The fair will be open from 3:00pm to 9:00pm on working days while on holidays it will run from 11:00am to 9:00pm. On 21 February, however, the exhibition will be open from 8:00 in the morning till 9:00 at night.

Literature festival

50 internationally acclaimed poets, writers, playwrights, literary critics of different language and from different countries will attend the International Literature Conference which will start on the first day of the fair.

German writer Hans Harder, French writer France Bhattacharya, Belgian writer Father Datien, and former Bishwa Bharati vice-chancellor Pabitra Sarkar are expected to deliver welcome speeches representing the conference on the fair’s inaugural session.

Speakers will discuss three creative genres of literature: fiction, poetry, and drama during the three-day course of the conference.

The book business

The authorities expects a good business this year as both the number of the stalls and participating organisations has increased comparing with last year when there were 299 organisations against 534 units of stalls.

Books published by Bangla Academy will be sold on 30% discount, but 70% discount will be offered on books published by the academy before 2000. Other organisations will give 25% discounts on their books.