Valedictory letter and a promise to meet again in 2013!

Dear book worms and bibliophiles,

Hope this posts finds you snug with all the books you purchased at the World Book Fair that are now neatly stacked in your shelves or kept on your bed side tables.

The last 9 days you smelt the sweet fragrance of, caressed the spines of, and felt the warmth of books that transported you to other spaces and time at the fair. Besides browsing and purchasing books we had fun times together watching films; meeting authors, critics, filmmakers; attending workshops. The fair would have not been the success that it was without your love, assistance and co operation.

It is time to bid good bye now. However this goodbye comes with a promise to meet again. A promise that you will see bear fruition in 2013. 

Happy reading till then. May you have a year full of books.

With the love and embrace of books.

World Book Fair

New Delhi

Behind the scenes with Farida M. Naik, Jt. Director (Admin & Finance) NBT

In a conversation with Farida M. Naik, Joint Director (Admin & Finance) NBT

Please give us a behind the scenes view of the fair.
Everyone's been on their toes for the last 2 months and the work was divided between many people. Everyone worked hard starting from the director who would be typing letters and personal invites to celebrities and ministers. We worked very closely as a team and that is what has made the difference.

What are the changes that you wanted to bring about that you regret not having been able to implement?
We wanted to give a professional look to the entire affair which we were able to achieve. One thing that we wanted was seating space for the visitor. In the end there was too much rush so we weren't able to achieve that. However, we were able to have a lot of walking space. Most of the things we had planned we were able to achieve.

What is your vision for the coming year?
We have made great progress but we aim to make it better. We'll put in more hard work and achieve all that we couldn't do this year.

How does it feel with the event coming to a close?
In the last two months we were deeply involved in arranging the fair. We do have many activities which we need to get on with but one will miss working on the book fair till it's time for the next one in 2013!

Interview with Sumit Bhattacharjee, Asst. director NBT

As the fair draws to an end, we spoke to some of those who were are the pillars of the fair. We spoke to Sumit Bhattachajee, the Assistant director of National Book Trust about the travails and experience of putting up the gala event that the book fair is. 

What goes into the making of the World Book Fair?

Hardwork, planning and goodwill. If one of them is missing, nothing can be done.

What have you tried to do differently at this year's fair?

I've been associated with the book fair for several years now. This is probably my 14th time. This time we have a new team. We thus thought we should do something new this time that is better than what we've done before. I can't blow my own trumpet beyond this so I will leave it for the people who have visited the fair to comment.

How did you conceptualize the theme of the fair?

We wanted to do something combining literature and cinema because cinema is celebrating 100 years next year. We even released a calendar on the theme of Cinema and Literature. That was a big success. After that we began work on this theme.

What were the efforts that went into attracting young people to the fair?

The dates of the world book fair coincided with school exams this time so we targeted young adults. We had a massive advertising campaign through which we were able to get massive footfall at the fair.

Any closing comments to the audience on the social media networks?

Hope to see you again next year!

Firsts at the 20th New Delhi World Book Fair

'Fair News'

With the fair getting bigger and better this year NBT had introduced many things for the first time. The information kiosk was one of them. These kiosks available at all the halls exhibiting books at the fair were found to be of extremely useful as they contained information about the various features of the book fair and which hall was hosting what genre of books. It also contained a Publication wise list that gave very specific and pertinent information.

The second new entrant at the fair was the 'Fair News', published daily. The leaflet contained news from the previous day's activities and informed the visitors to the fair about the events lined up for that day. The leaflet was full of photographs and detailed descriptions of the events of the book fair so as to not make up for what you may have missed at the fair. National Centre for Children's Literature published a daily mail exclusively for children discussing children's workshops, books and comments of the visitors to the children's pavilion.

The book fair goes e-savvy

Abreast with the rapid changes and challenges in the technologizing of books, the World Book Fair hosted a seminar on How e-publishing technologies and market developments will create opportunities for book publishers and printers. 

The two day seminar discussed- How Authors can benefit by new approaches in ePublishing of Self-Publishing and On Demand Publishing; how the Publishing ecosystem can offer ePublishing on Mobile devices including Tablets, Reading Devices and Smartphones; how publishers and authors could use e-distribution mechanisms to monetize their book inventory and the discovery of content in the age of tablets, e-readers and Google

The ePublishing event was targeted to introduce the new concepts, tools and technologies and evelopments in the digital publishing space.

The Children's Pavilion- Bustling with colour and activity

The Children's Pavilion was the most colourful and vivacious corner of the book fair with thousands of books in varying shapes and sizes adorning the shelves of each stall. From comics to graphic novels to 3 D books to educational tools, the children's pavilion enchanted the little ones. 

At the pavilion, the activities organized through the day entailed meetings with authors, Maths workshops, poetry recitation. Katha organized a cartoon making workshop in which children were imparted tips on how to make their sketches attractive. Pratham Books organized a book reading session. They also organized a puppet show based on the story- 'Laddu ka Swaad' which tickled children's funny bones. Kartik Sharma from Eklavya recited fun limericks which the children recited after him.

Origami and craft workshops were also organized for children where they learnt the art of folding that lends itself to the construction of various items of great amusement and function. Children also entertained each other with performances like the one titled- 'Kitabein karti hain baatien' wherein each child adorned the role of a book and appealed to people to read them.  

Nandita Das Talks to Children about Books and Films

Nandita Das

At the session, 'Bal Katha se Cinema Tak' organized by Bachpan Society of Children's Literature in collaboration with National Centre for Children's Literature was present, actor and the present chairperson of Children's Film Society of India, Nandita Das.  She spoke of the need to promote children's films free of violence. She encouraged children to take part in theatre activities in school if they aspired to act in her films. 

She spoke about her favourite books and how they have contributed to the development of her personality. Speaking of the similarity between books and cinema, she said that both of them introduce the reader/ audience to a brand new world.