The month-long ‘Amar Ekushey Grantha Mela 2024’ (Immortal Ekushey Book Fair 2024). Commemorating the 1952 language movement of Bengalis shall begin on its traditional date of the first day of February this year. Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to open the fair to be held under the auspices of Bangla Academy on its premises and Suhrawardy Udyan venues.
According to organizers, a total of 895 stalls have been allocated to 573 organizations. Among them 786 are general stalls while 109 stalls will be dedicated to little magazine venue.
Moreover, a total of 37 pavilions have been allocated this year. Last year, a total of 901 stalls were allocated in favor of 601 organizations.
The preparation for the fair started soon after the end of the last fair and committees have been formulated in three-phase – committee for preparation phase, committee for inaugural ceremony and separate committees for conducting the month-long fair.
Along with cultural programs and month-long seminars, there will be arrangements for children and teenagers which include drawing, music and recitation competitions.
Stall allotment for old and newly enlisted publications was done through a digitalized lottery system on January 23, said the organizers.
Meanwhile, besides the enlisted 601 organizations, some 70 new publications have applied to get stall allocation responding to the notice. Among them, 23 new publications got selected.
For notable contributions to various aspects of Bangla literature, this year, the Bangla Academy Literary Award-2023 will be given to 16 individuals in 11 categories- poetry, fiction, essay/research, translation, drama, children’s literature category, Liberation War, Bangabandhu, environment/science field, biography and folklore.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will hand over the awards at the inaugural ceremony of the Amar Ekushey Book Fair-2024 scheduled to begin on February 1.
The award recipients are: Shamim Azad (poetry), Novelists Nuruddin Jahangir and Salma Bani (jointly in fiction), Zulfikar Matin (essay/research), Saleha Chowdhury (translation), Playwrights Mrittika Chakma and Masud Pathik (jointly in drama), Tapankar Chakrabarty (children’s literature), Afroza Parvin and Asaduzzaman Asad (research on the Liberation War), Saifullah Mahmud Dulal and Md Mojibur Rahman (research on Bangabandhu), ornithologist Inam Al Haque (environment/science field), Ishak Khan (biography) and Tapan Bagchi and Suman Kumar Das (jointly in folklore).
