Frankfurt: Indian writers invited to the 58th edition of the world's biggest book fair, where India was the guest of honour, say they have been generally happy with the response to their work. Readings held in packed auditoria were received with enthusiasm.

"There is no question about it. India is here to stay and publishers are snapping up books not just from the stylish English language writers but also from popular writers from other Indian languages. Earlier on, publishers were looking for high-quality literary fiction from India. But, the success and impact of Bollywood have made popular Indian fiction more desired and more accessible," Petra Hardt, one of the directors of the leading German publisher, Surcamp, told The Hindu .

However, everyone is not quite as happy with arrangements made by the Indian side. The most disparaging remarks came from visitors to the Fair and from Indian publishers who drew unfavourable comparisons between arrangements made by Korea, last year's guest of honour, and the National Book Trust of India (NBT) and the Human Resource Development (HRD) Ministry, which managed India's participation. Most considered the Indian pavilion to be ugly, singularly lacking in imagination and aesthetic beauty.

"I teach literature and I am passionate about India. So, I came here expecting to find India's usual riot of colour and wealth of design. But, I was utterly disappointed. The Indian Pavilion looks like a little Indian booksellers' bazaar with unimaginative décor. The country's rich aesthetic tradition is nowhere reflected in the stands which are bare and devoid of character. You should have seen the Korean stands last year. They were full of colour and the displays were simply wonderful. This looks like a dusty Indian government office transplanted to Germany," a schoolteacher, Gertrude Schultz, who is a regular visitor to the Fair, remarked.

According to Sudeep Bannerji, Secretary, HRD Ministry, the NBT "spent Rs. 20 crore for the event." "Well, if you invite 70 plus authors and put them up at the Intercontinental Hotel for a week, then it is not difficult to understand where the money went. I as a publisher want the authors to be treated well. But, there should be some overall coherence to this exercise. NBT officials have been coming to Germany for the past two years to organise this event and see how shabby everything looks. Publishers were not even informed or invited to the Fair openings, even when our authors were speaking. After all, it is the publishers along with the authors who make up the book industry," V.K. Karthika, senior editor with Penguin India told The Hindu .

India is the guest of honour at the Paris Salon du livre to be held in March next year. Seeing the shabby display put on at this fair, French officials are worried as the event is just six months away.

If the Paris Book Fair fails to be a success, the French authorities will only have themselves to blame. Korea, which was the initial invitee, reportedly backed out because of bureaucratic bungling on the French side.

Approach late

The Indian authorities were approached very late in the day to fill the void. This time, the NBT refused, saying the Frankfurt Fair had exhausted its budget.

The Paris authorities then approached the Federation of Indian Publishers, a body of publishing interests that does not represent serious mainstream publishing in the country, and it accepted the offer.

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