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Publishers put their best books forward

Mandira Nayar

NEW DELHI: The business of books is often the toughest for authors to "read''. But that is all set to change at the next Delhi Book Fair if the Federation of Indian Publishers has its way.

"We are planning to have one hour at the beginning of the day at the Delhi Book Fair specifically for business. It will give people who are interested in trade to come and interact with authors and publishers,'' said Federation of Indian Publishers honorary treasurer Asoke K. Ghosh at the seventh National Convention of Publishers here earlier this week.

With Indian English writers being the toast of the world for some time now, the biggest challenge is for authors expressing themselves in a "desi'' language to get noticed. Lost in translation, authors find it hard not only to find ways to reach readers in English, but are also often stuck in their own language too.

"There is a need to get books translated from, say, Hindi to Gujarati or even Marathi. There is a great demand for children's books in different languages,'' pointed out Mr. Ghosh.

And in an attempt to encourage publishers to put their best books forward, the Federation of Indian Publishers is planning to set up a screening process.

This two-day convention that took off on Monday brought together publishers from different parts of the country as well as authors. Renowned Bangladeshi author Taslima Nasreen was the chief guest at the function. Referring to publishers and writers as her family when she addressed the gathering on Monday, Ms. Nasreen said she was a doctor in a public hospital to begin with but chose to write to protect the rights of women.

She said she had to face many issues of censorship but continued to write for the rights of ordinary people.

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