Ekushey Boi Mela barring Suhrawardy Udyan!

Bangla Academy has been instructed to organise the Ekushey book fair, the country's largest book festival, at the academy premises only, barring the Suhrawardy Udyan.

The Ministry of Housing and Public Works sent a letter addressing the academy authorities on November 6 with the request.

It said, according to the decision of the meeting held on November 21, 2023, the Ekushey Book Fair 2025 should be organised on the premises of Bangla Academy instead of Suhrawardy Udyan.

The letter was sent from the Administration Department of the ministry, signed by Deputy Secretary Farida Yeasmin.

Mohammad Azam, director general of Bangla Academy told The Daily Star, "The Ministry of Public Works and Housing has decided not to hold the Amar Ekushey Book Fair at Suhrawardy Udyan."

"But people want the fair at the Udyan. We have decided to appeal to the ministry against the decision. We will send a letter and try to convince the ministry… We want to hold the book fair at Suhrawardy Udyan," he added.

For over a decade, the Ekushey Book Fair has been organised on the Bangla Academy premises and at the nearby Suhrawardy Udyan. Most of the stalls of the fair are also allocated at Suhrawardy Udyan.

In 2023 and 2024, the book fair was organised on the Bangla Academy premises and Suhrawardy Udyan with more than 11.5 lakh square feet of space. However, discussions have been going on for the last couple of years whether the Ekushey Book Fair would be held at Suhrawardy Udyan.

Relocating the fair to Purbachal was also in the discussion.

In 1972, Chittaranjan Saha, the founder of Muktodhara Prakashan, started selling books on the premises of Bangla Academy. Since 1984, Bangla Academy has been running the fair continuously under the name of "Amar Ekushey Boi Mela".

Since 2021, the fair has been officially named Amar Ekushey Book Fair.