Over one lakh books in Tamil, English, French, Hindi and other languages are being showcased at the 22nd edition of the book fair which got under way at the Vel. Sokkanathan Thirumana Nilayam on Friday.
Hosted by the Puducherry Writers Book Society, the event (December 21-30) will feature more than 100 publishers. Distributors and sellers from across the country as well as many from Malaysia, Singapore, Sri Lanka and Mauritius will participate in the fair.
‘Enjoy Reading’ is the theme of the fair which was formally opened by Lt. Governor Kiran Bedi.
Describing books as one’s “best friends”, Ms. Bedi said, “With them (books) one never feels lonely....They travel with you wherever you go.”
Ms. Bedi, for whom “daily spiritual reading is food for the soul”, could not resist buying quite a number of publications.
According to V. Muthu, president of the society, readers who make purchases worth over ₹50,000 will be awarded the titles ‘Book Maharaja’ and ‘Book Maharani’.
Those who spend more than ₹10,000 on buying books will be felicitated with the ‘Book Raja’ and ‘Book Rani’ awards.
Children making purchases worth more than ₹2,000 will be awarded with a ‘Book Lover’ certificate.
Literary events like quiz, essay and elocution, music programmes, poetry, drawing and painting competitions are also part of the schedule.
