Assam: 22nd North East Book Fair postponed to November 2021

Guwahati: The 22nd edition of North East Book Fair, which was initially scheduled to take place in November this year at Guwahati, has been postponed by a year to November 2021. The public advisory committee of the fair took this decision last Sunday and came to the conclusion of deferring it by a year.

Earlier, the North East Book Fair was postponed to January-February 2021 from its usual month of November 2020, when it would have completed its 22nd year. The All Assam Publishers' Association, the organisation which conducts the book fair every year, had requested the State Education Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma in October this year to organise the book fair according to the Covid protocols. However, they informed that no response has been received by them so far. Although several book lovers, intellectuals and writers had then proposed to organize the book fair in February, the committee informed that it would not be possible until November 2021.

According to reports, the public advisory committee came up with the decision of postponement due to the non-availability of dates in the months of January and February 2021. They also said that there is a lack of participation and even sponsors are not ready to fund the fair this year. 

Notably, the reopening of schools and colleges around the same time in the state is said to be another reason behind the decision, as children and students will not be able to experience the book fair as they would normally. 

Notably, in a statement released by the Publishers' Association, it was stated that they urged the state government to allot monetary support along with the Assam Engineering Institute playground in Chandmari for conducting the book fair in November next year. Referring to the postponement of book fairs in the country, the organisers noted that all book fairs have suffered because of the pandemic, and have been accordingly cancelled.

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