HYDERABAD: The 31st edition of the Hyderabad Book Fair, a 10-day long annual book sale cum exhibition was inaugurated by minister G Jagadishwar Reddy at NTR Gardens here on Thursday.
Appreciating the Hyderabad Book Fair Society for organising it, the minister said that books are knowledge base that transcends boundaries. “It is important that we have such fairs. It is through books that we learn about our existence and our history. I wouldn’t be standing here if it wasn’t for books,” he said.
Books in various languages and genres from across the country and one from Japan are on display at the 331 stalls. For the first time since the formation of Telangana state, the Telangana Sahithya Akademi also has put up a stall at the book fair this year. Besides this, a number of learning and educational aids are also up for sale and display for the first time.
Chandra Mohan, secretary, Hyderabad Book Fair, said that there is representation of 12 states this year. “Apart from books in Telugu, Hindi and English, we also have a stall from Varanasi with books in Sanskrit. We also have exclusive sellers displaying educational aids, for the first time,” he said.
Publishers from not only city but from Vijayawada, Nellore, New Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai and Jaipur will be taking part in the event with their publications.
Four stalls have been dedicated for 20 local writers who will be available to directly interact with people and some of the big names include Nandini Siddha Reddy, Nalimeli Bhasker, Goreti Venkanna and others. There is also one stall dedicated to women’s books, highlighting their writings.