The Calcutta Book Fair was renamed as Kolkata Book Fair and officially is called the Kolkata Boi Mela in romanised Bengali. This annual book fair is usually held during the winter months.
Kolkata Book Fair is a unique book fair, primarily for the general public rather than wholesale distributors. It is known to be the world`s largest non-trade book fair and Asia`s largest book fair. This most attended book fair of the world, brings a collection of books every year that is overwhelming. It is the world`s third largest annual assortment of books after the Frankfurt Book Fair and the London Book Fair. Many academic personalities consider the Kolkata Book Fair an inherent part of Kolkata, and instances of crowd visiting the fair every day during its duration is colossal. The Kolkata Book Fair also has an archetypal fairground experience with a book flavour with the presence of picnickers, singer-songwriters, and candyfloss vendors on the fair grounds.
The success of the Kolkata Book Fair has resulted in many book fairs in smaller cities of West Bengal like Siliguri, and was inspired, in turn, by the first World Book Fair at New Delhi in 1972. The Kolkata Book Fair was started on a small scale in 1976 by the Calcutta Publishers` and Booksellers` Guild. The Kolkata Book Fair was initiated to cater to the needs of the growing public demand for books, but a relative lack of bookshops in Calcutta. Even though Kolkata now has several reputed bookshops like Landmark, Crossword, and The Oxford Bookstore, beside the expanded bookshop District of College Street, the tradition persists and Kolkata Book Fair is growing every year.
The Kolkata Book Fair traditionally starts on the last Wednesday of January, and ends on the first or second Sunday of February and the duration is always 12 days. The fair usually overlaps with the Hindu festival of Saraswati Puja. The Kolkata Book Fair is held on the Maidan, which is Kolkata`s large urban park. During the 1980s and early 1990s, Kolkata was the host to two annual book fairs, one by the Calcutta Publishers` and Booksellers` Guild, and one by the Government of West Bengal - the Grontho Mela. Later, the Government of West Bengal merged these two fairs in 1992.
In Kolkata Book Fair 2008 offered United States of America a pavilion to showcase its books and publishers. A US Kolkata Literary Exchange (USKLE) was created to organise this event with the Consulate General of the United States of America in Kolkata. The Kolkata Book Fair 2008 was held from February 9 up to February 25, 2008. Pulitzer Prize winning poet Yusef Komunyakaa led the delegation to the 2008 Kolkata Book Fair.
A large group of the intellectuals, authors, editors, journalists and book lovers, including Sunil Gangopadhyay, Shirshendu Bandyopadhyay, Samaresh Majumder, Suchitra Bhattacharya, Buddhadev Guha, Mrinal Sen, Mayor of Kolkata attended the Kolkata Book Fair 2008. Popular book stalls of Kolkata Book Fair include Ananda Publishers, Dey`s Publishing, Sishu Sahitya Samsad, Deb Sahitya Kutir, Mitra Ghosh Publishers, Pratibhas, Punashcha, Deep Prakashan, Tuli Kalam, Bhasha o Sahitya, Maondol Book House, Saraswato Library and Timely Books, Seagull Books, Rupa and Co, Penguin India, Tata McGraw Hill.
The institutions in Kolkata, which have their own press or publishing house host stalls in Kolkata Book Fair, namely the Indian Museum, Asiatic Society, survey institutes like Zoological Survey of India, Botanical Survey of India, Geological Survey of India, and universities like University of Calcutta, Jadavpur University and Rabindra Bharati University. The famous Santiniketan-based used bookseller Subarnarekha boasts, arts and artifacts of Santiniketan. The food stall of BenFish (Bengal Fisheries) at times attracts more customers than most bookshops.
All first editions of books, which are released in the Kolkata Book Fair, are showcased in a special release gallery. The Kolkata Book Fair has been the annual show for Bengali little magazines since the beginning of the fair. Since 1990s, the Kolkata Book Fair has also initiated a special section for budding artists, authors, poets and painters, called the Montmartre. The food stalls in the Kolkata Book Fair share a common enclave.
A number of events are held in union with the Kolkata Book Fair, namely the book launch shows, a series of seminars and talks by literati, competitive events for school children, fund raising for child literacy programs and many others. The Book Bazaar was a special auction held on the last day of the Kolkata Book Fair to auction off remainder stock, however it has been discontinued.
Kolkata Book Fair has earned a highflying name in the domain of Indian Literature that has reached out the international with the passage of time. The years of Kolkata Book Fair have been a real success from every aspect.
