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New Delhi set for World Book Fair

NEW DELHI: The 18th edition of the biennial New Delhi World Book Fair, billed as the world’s second largest such event, will open on Saturday.

Announcing this at a press conference here, National Book Trust (NBT) Director Nusrat Ahmed said this time it would be a trade-oriented event and not just a platform for book sales.

A highlight this year will be an international rights exhibition featuring works on and by Mahatma Gandhi, in the 60th year of his martyrdom. Titled “In Words and In Deeds,” the exhibition will have on display 1,000 titles in Indian languages. There will also be some published in French, German, Finnish, Spanish and Brazilian.

NBT has put together an Annotated Rights Catalogue. It features annotations, bibliographic details, information on the availability of translation rights, copyright status, and contact details for rights, permissions and licences. The purpose, according to Ms. Ahmed, is to have an estimate of the quantum of writings on Gandhiji across the world and facilitate copyright negotiations.

With 2008 being declared the Year of Russia in India, the Russian Federation will be the Guest of Honour. Housed in a special hall, the Russian pavilion will have over 80 publishers displaying their publications. Russia will host panel discussions, literary programmes and children’s activities.

Anzhelika Zhukova, director general of IMA Dialog which is putting together the Russian component, said 30 writers from Russia would attend. Half of them are part of the official delegation; the rest are coming on their own.

Ahead of the fair, the Frankfurt Book Fair will host an international conference. NBT is buoyed by this, as it points to India’s emergence as an Asian centre of publishing on a par with China. The NBT Director drew attention to the number of requests that have come from publishers for visa facilitation. Participation from 23 countries is confirmed.

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