What does it take to prepare for Ekushey Boi Mela?

Amar Ekushey Boi Mela has been one of the most celebrated literary events of the country for decades. Every February, this book fair celebrates our love for language and literature, with a festive mood that lasts for a month. But what does it take to prepare for a fair this big? 

Printing and binding are among the last steps when it comes to the production process of books, but preparations start early for book binders. Shujayet, a Banglabazar-based book binder, said, "This year, we started our work in January", "We usually have an order of approximately 40 to 50 new books per year on average", he explained.

Other binders, like Afaz Book Bindings, have to start as early as November if they are to meet the deadline, mentions the owner.

"Manpower is crucial in our line of work. Progress mainly depends on how many of our workers are available during the Boi Mela season," he states. "It usually takes one or two days to get one consignment done, but it might take longer if the publishers want to get a higher quantity printed," he adds. 

According to Shujayet, the manpower crisis was something that affected their work in the last two years gravely, due to the pandemic. "Business wore down during that period and many of our workers went back to their village because they could not afford to live in Dhaka anymore". "The very little work that we got", shares Shujayet, "was slowed down due to the extended periods of lockdown".

"But we have picked just the right flow this year", he expresses. "Times are now extra busy with works of the new books underway". 

Preparations of the fair for the publishers began in the middle of the year in the previous years. "This year, however, due to the uncertainty caused by the spiking Covid infections", says Monirul Hoque, owner and editor of Ananya Prokashoni, "it was harder to stay on track because our schedules were hampered". "But usually,'' he added, "we start planning from June and wrap up preparations by January". 

Preparations on the publishers' end have many steps in between, till the last moment of the fair. The first step is to select the books and the writers that they want to publish—a process that starts in the middle of the year. 

"We usually have some writers in mind in that regard and reach out to them with our proposals", explains the editor of Ananya. "But often, debutant writers contact us to get published". "If we like their work, we start working on their books right away,"

Next comes the crucial step of proofreading. According to Monirul, it is still one of the most difficult steps of production. "Proofing is something that needs to be done with utmost care as one mistake can be carried to the very final version of the book". "Unfortunately", he says, "our country lacks professional proofreaders."

The last step before the books go to the printers and binders is the cover design. This requires extra time, incorporating the visions and opinions of the authors for their work, and catering them according to the production expectations of the publishers. "Once these are finalised", said the publisher, "the books are ready for print". 

But it doesn't just end here. For the Ekushey Boi Mela, a publishing house needs to set up their stalls, which is a step that has multiple sub-steps fastened to it.

Click here to watch video footage of Boi Mela preparations. 

Bangla Academy issues a Call to Action notice each year, after which publishers have to deposit a certain amount of money for participating in the lottery that decides the location for their stalls. Once the spot is confirmed, designated designers and architects design the stall according to the publishers' preferences.

"Setting up the stall is a process that takes almost 15 days", shares Monirul while talking about the challenges they had to face due to the pandemic. "However due to Covid, we only got 7 days for setting up the stalls this year due to the last minute decisions made".

"This was quite difficult for us to work around, but we somehow got it done the day before the fair was inaugurated", he added. 

He further mentions, "We are publishing a hundred new titles this year, and not everyone has the manpower and resources that we have to get all the preparations done on time".

"I believe this must have been harder for other publishers who operate on a smaller scale and wait for the fair throughout the year," he added. 

Amidst all the uncertainty with the Covid situation this year, Ekushey Boi Mela has still had a good start. Credit for this goes to most of these people from behind the scenes, who work hard to make the fair a success every year, but this year, they have put in the extra hours and worked harder to keep it going in the most uncertain of times.

Nahaly Nafisa Khan is a sub editor at the Metro desk, The Daily Star.