Thaindian News

New Delhi, March 24 (IANS) The Delhi Weekend Book Bazaar, a literary carnival designed to give book lovers, particularly students, an opportunity to browse and buy their favourite books at cheap rates, will take place at Delhi University’s North Campus March 25-27.

To be held at Faculty of Fine Arts lawns, the mart is being organised by the country’s largest government publishing institution, the National Book Trust (NBT).

It is part of NBT’s year-long programme to celebrate the centenary of the capital in 2011, a statement said.

The book mart initiative was inaugurated in January this year by Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit at an NBT event. Friday’s bazaar will be inaugurated by emeritus president of the Federation of Indian Publishers Dina Nath Malhotra at 11 a.m.

With nearly 100 publishers and nearly 150 specially designed pagoda-style vends, the bazaar is an attempt to connect promote books in popular culture, an NBT spokesperson said.

A wide variety of books on art, culture, medicine and other topics will be displayed and sold in the three-day extravaganza from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.

Publishers will offer maximum discount and also sell their old stock, rare and antiquarian books, the spokesperson said.

The day-long trade will be capped by an evening of music, Sham-E-Ghazal, to be presented by the Delhi Academy Friday and recitation of Hindi satire poetry, organised by Hindi Academy, Saturday.

The capital has an old tradition of open book bazaars. The nearly 50-year-old Sunday book market at Daryaganj in the old city was once one of the largest book markets in the capital, selling old and new books at throwaway prices.

The market has shrunk in size in the last two years because of police crackdown on squatters. The Weekend Book Bazaar was an attempt to recreate the magic of the Daryaganj book market.