CHENNAI: The 47th Chennai Book Fair, much anticipated by bibliophiles in the city, was inaugurated by Minister of Youth Welfare and Sports Development Udhayanidhi Stalin at YMCA ground in Nandanam on Wednesday.
Further, during the inauguration event, the minister honoured the writers and publishers with Muthamizh Arignar M Karunanidhi Porkizhi awards along with the awards given by the Booksellers and Publishers Association of South India (BAPASI).
Reading the letter by CM MK Stalin on missing the inauguration of the book fair, minister Udhayanidhi read, "The 50th anniversary of the book fair is coming up in a few years. This is a sign of Tamil society moving forward with rationality and progressive thinking, with a passion for reading and the pursuit of knowledge. So I express my gratitude to the BAPASI for continuing that work."
"Book fairs like the Chennai book fair have been held since last year in all districts of Tamil Nadu to turn the habit of reading books into a habit. The next most important initiative taken by the Tamil Nadu government is the International book fair to be held at Nandambakkam trade centre between January 16 to 18,"the letter by CM stated.
The inauguration event was also attended by School Education Minister Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi and Minister for Health and Family Welfare Ma Subramanian, along with stakeholders from various fields.
The 19-days book fair will take place from January 3 till 21 with close to 1,000 stalls, from both the members and non-members of BAPASI. In case of non-members, 150 stalls have been allotted in the fair this year.
The fair during the weekdays will be open to the public between 2 pm to 8:30 pm and during weekends, the fair will be open between 11 am to 8:30 pm. Additionally, speech and painting competitions will also be conducted for students.
Speaking to DT NEXT, D Siddarthan, a bibliophile looking forward to the fair said, "At the last year's book fair, I purchased close to 30 English books and ten Tamil books. Advantage being, I was able to purchase classics in both languages at a cheaper rate. For this year, however, I look forward to purchasing more budding Tamil authors and diasporic Tamil literature."
Some of the books Siddarthan is looking forward to getting at the book fair are; Tamil translations of other Indian language works like Arokyanikethanam and Chemmeen.