Stalls were shut down, books removed, and even female hygiene products were targetted by Islamic extremist elements.
No official numbers yet on the 2025 month-long Boi Mela that is Bangladesh’s biggest cultural event, attracting millions in a good year, and my guess is the Bangla Academy will keep a low profile about just how badly the fair fared this year.
After the coup/revolution last year we should not be at all surprised, but still much room for disappointment. Stalls were shut down, books removed, and even female hygiene products were targetted by Islamic extremist elements.
The closing day Children’s Hour also fared badly it seems, the absence of many favourite authors and the Sisimpur act, along with the low number of books, contributed to a subdued atmosphere, reports BD News24.
Publishers attributed the absence of many writers to the country’s political situation since the July Uprising in 2024.
Dewan Aziz, publisher of Pankhiraj, said, “The overall fair was disappointing this year. Sales were not as expected.”
The children’s zone was adorned more colourfully this year to attract young readers, but the Bangla Academy is woefully out of sync with children’s publishing, despite having a token children’s book stall of its own.
This year, 74 publishers were allotted 120 stalls in the children’s zone, with a few more children’s book stalls scattered across the fairground. However, sales staff at several children’s book stalls reported lower-than-expected sales.
Kamal Mustafa, publisher of Dolon, told BDNews: “We need to rethink the book fair for next year. Every year, the number of stalls increases, but quality control is lacking. This is reducing the overall standard of the fair. The event should focus on quality publishers.”
This post first appeared in the TNPS LinkedIn newsfeed.
