As the Ekushey book fair draws near to its conclusion, hundreds of thousands of people from every walk of life and of diverse interests are thronging the fair area with one thing in common-the love of reading, and collecting books from the country's biggest Book Fair. Particularly the youth, upcoming writers, students flocked different stalls and pavilions to find books of their favourite writers. Most of the bookworms were found to prefer novels and poetry books of their favourite writers.
"I usually come here every day to browse the titles and roam around the premises. From this book fair, I bought nine books. Of them seven are novels and one is a poetry book and another a historical book. I like to read novels, especially written by Ahmad Sofa, Samaresh Majumdar. I am willing to buy some more books if I can manage the money,” Tanjimul Islam, a second year student of Dhaka University told Bangladesh Post.
Ashraful Alam, a private employee said, “ I bought books for my school-going son Adib and daughter Ahsana. They like illustrated books, so I bought those books for them." "Besides, I also bought books for my wife who loves to read books of Humayun Ahmed," said Ashraful Alam. Flanked by his parents, five-year-old Momeena was seen visibly absorbed carrying books on rhymes and ghost stories at the Suhrawardy Udyan.
Private university student Mahbubur Rahman, who came with a special friend said, “Today I bought two books written by Sunil Gangopadhyay and one book of Arif Azad for my girlfriend,” He said with a smile as his girlfriend, Anika, stood behind him. Another visitor Fahmida and her husband Akash, both private job holders, chose books by Humayun Ahmed and Ahmed Sofa respectively.
Keeping in mind the readers' age groups, publishers have also diversified their catalogue. Sirajul Islam, publisher of Kotha Prokash, said, "We have books on different genres. People from all ages come to our pavilion, and therefore we publish books for all ages." Most of the publishers were showcasing novels and poetry books in their stalls.
Novels and poetry collections on the Liberation War, world literature, history and many more were much sought after. At the same time, romantic novels and poetry collections were the popular choice among the youths. In most of the stalls, poetry books were the preferred choice. "At times, poetry books sell more compared to novels," said Abu Sayed of "Barna Prokashoni". "Then again, a good novel is always in demand," he added.