CHENNAI : With over 200 book stalls and an expected footfall of three lakh people, Chennai Book Fair opened at YMCA, Royapettah, on Friday. The 10-day fair is a feast for readers, particularly Tamil book-lovers, as even newly published books are sold at subsidised prices.The inaugural function that was supposed to be held on Friday evening was postponed to Saturday morning as the Deputy chief minister O Panneerselvam had left for New Delhi to pay homage to former Prime Minister A B Vajpayee. The function will be presided by Ma Foi Pandiarajan, Minister for Tamil and Tamil Culture. The stalls, however, were open and running from Friday evening.
Organised by Tamil Nool Veliyeedu Matrum Nool Virpanai Membaattu Kuzhumam, the fair is home to both technical and leisure reads. Many books are even finding their official release at the exhibition.
A grand Chennai book fair is usually held in January each year and it attracts thousands of readers from across the State. However, the year-long gap leaves many new books outdated by the time of the next event. “Smaller fairs such as these, will help readers stay on top of the trend and will also boost book sales for authors,” said G Ram, a volunteer with the Kuzhumam.
There are niche stalls that sell books exclusively on genres such as Ayurveda, Islamic literature, ancient science and politics, minority rights, nature and biodiversity, children’s books and English novels.
There are shops that sell second hand books for less than half the price, that were visited by excited readers even on the first day. “I save my pocket money every year to exhaust it at book fairs. The first day usually has the best books at best deals, so I’ve come to take my pick even before all stalls open,” said G Swetha, a literature student and an avid reader.
Smaller stalls with books that cost as low as Rs 10, dot the fair. These shops are popular among light readers who would like to pick up a riddle or joke book to amuse their children. There is even a stall set up by Amazon Kindles to encourage Tamil readers and publishers to use digital platforms in a more robust way.
The fair will be open from 2 pm on weekdays and 11 am on weekends.