New Delhi: The 2024 edition of the New Delhi World Book Fair offers a unique opportunity to explore the richness of literature in various Indian languages.With the theme ‘Multilingual India: A Living Tradition,’ this nine-day event will kick off on Feb 10.The theme pavilion, in hall number five, will host a range of activities, including “Bhashaaein Anek Bhaav Ek,” storytelling featuring unheard stories, the exploration of art forms as language, and a multilingual kavi sammelan. Saudi Arabia is the guest country for this year’s fair, with international events and the foreign pavilion situated in hall number four.Promising to be the biggest edition yet, the 51st fair boasts the largest international participation, with 40 countries represented, including 10 new nations. This ensures that book lovers will have access to reading materials in nearly all languages worldwide.On the international stage, readers can enjoy 16 cultural activities alongside the rich literature of Saudi Arabia. The literary festival aims to foster understanding of historical heritage, language, and culture between India and Saudi Arabia, deepening the international relations between the two countries.In collaboration with the ministry of social justice and empowerment, the fair, under the ‘Books for All’ initiative, will provide free Braille books to visually impaired readers upon the production of UID. With over 600 literary and cultural programs planned, this book extravaganza will feature not only drama, folk performances, and music but also a national platform showcasing renowned artists, poets, and musicians, offering a blend of contemporary and regional representation.“We are creating a decorative theme celebrating the spirit of diversity of the country. More than that we are creating a concept of festival of festivals where we are providing a platform from NDWBF for all the literature festivals of the country to come and perform and carry out sessions so that they can have an international outreach for their literature festivals. Also, readers will get a glimpse of India’s diverse culture and folk art along with books,” said Yuvraj Malik, director of National Book Trust.Acknowledging the growing interest in e-learning, the National Digital Library will be launched, and a special e-magic box for children will be dedicated at the World Book Fair. The Indira Gandhi National Centre for Art will organize a unique exhibition titled ‘India the Mother of Democracy.’The National Book Trust (NBT) has curated a diverse array of activities for young book enthusiasts at the Children’s Pavilion. In addition to book launches and storytelling sessions, children can engage in events such as ‘Ink and Imagination: Learning to Become an Author,’ a workshop for teachers on creating academic comic books, a cyber quiz, child author panel discussions, a drawing workshop for children with special needs, and a session on learning caricature art, among others.
