The 44th Chennai Book Fair, which concluded on Tuesday, witnessed a good turnout despite the pandemic, organisers and publishers said.
R.S. Shanmugam, president, the Booksellers and Publishers Association of South India (BAPASI), said though the turnout was not the same as previous years, it was far better than what they had expected. “We had roughly eight lakh footfalls and a business of roughly ₹10 to ₹12 crore. This is around 75% compared to last year,” he said.
G. Olivannan, vice-president, BAPASI, said it was heartening to see such a turnout. “Everyone has had a tough year. Most of the famous book fairs across the world and in major cities in India did not happen. We also had concerns while organising the book fair here. The turnout has disproved these concerns,” he said.
Pointing out that the book fair happened every year in January during Pongal holidays, he said, “That schedule generally had eight holidays, including weekends. We did not have as many holidays during the book fair this year. Despite that, the turnout was good,” he said.
Writer S. Ramakrishnan said he saw an increased turnout of women this year. “In the stall of our publishing house Desanthiri, at least 40% to 50% of the books were bought by women,” he said.
Though the turnout of elderly people was noticeably low this year due to the pandemic, Mr. Ramakrishnan said he saw instances where grandchildren visited the stalls and coordinated with their grandparents over phone to get the books they wanted.
Vasugi Bhaskar, editor of Neelam magazine and Neelam Publications, said while the publishers were short on time and resources this year to prepare for the event due to the pandemic, the response from readers was very encouraging.
“Our stall witnessed considerable turnout on all days. The readers seemed well-informed. The seven new books we brought out this year and other books as well sold well,” he said.
R. Manivannan, sales manager, Kizhakku Pathippagam, said all the 13 new releases of the publication was well-received. “The lockdown due to COVID-9 perhaps gave people time to read more. That helped in good turnout and sales at the book fair,” he said.
