49th Chennai Book Fair to be held from January 8-21 at YMCA grounds

CHENNAI: The 49th Chennai Book Fair, organised by the Booksellers’ and Publishers’ Association of South India (BAPASI), will be held from January 8-21 at the YMCA grounds in Nandanam. The event will be inaugurated by CM Stalin.

Speaking to reporters, the organisers said that around 1,000 book stalls were expected to be set up this year at the venue, which would be open from 11 am to 8.30 pm every day. A 10% discount would be offered on all books across stalls.

“Discussions are under way on whether entry to the fair should be made free this year. Entry will be free for school students, as in previous years,” said Nakkhreeran Gopal, VP, BAPASI.

Separate stalls will be set up for the Tamil Nadu Textbook and Educational Services Corporation, Sahitya Akademi, National Book Trust, Publications Division, Thanjavur Tamil University and the Department of Archaeology. A stall for the Illam Thedi Kalvi programme will also be introduced this year.

International and national publishing houses such as Penguin Random House India, British Council, HarperCollins Publishers India and Simon and Schuster India will participate in the fair. Stalls have been allotted to Tamil publishers from Malaysia and Singapore, while Tamil booksellers from Sri Lanka and Europe will also take part. A special stall has been provided for a queer publishing house run by transgender persons.

At the inaugural function, the Chief Minister will present the Muthamizharingar Kalaignar M Karunanidhi Porkizhi Awards for 2026 to selected writers and publishers. The awardees include Sukumaran for poetry, Adhavan Deetchanya for short stories, R Murugan for novels, Karuna Prasad for drama, Bharathiputhran for prose, and V Geetha for translation.