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Poets at Kolkata Book Fair

The Kolkata Book Fair in India is the largest book fair in the world with an annual attendance of 2.8 million people.The festival started in 1976 and was organized by the Publishers & Booksellers Guild. Every year, a focal theme country is given a large pavilion to showcase its countries' books and publishers. The United States was selected for 2008 and US Kolkata Literary Exchange (USKLE) was created to organize this event with the Consulate General of the United States of America in Kolkata. The bookfair was supposed to be held from January 30 to February 10, 2008.

In the aftermath of the cancellation of the Kolkata Book Fair by the High Court, USKLE (US-Kolkata Literary Exchange), the organization sponsoring the visit to India by 15 American writers including Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Yusef Komunyakaa, revised it's schedule of events. A number of the American readings, seminars, and presentations were hosted by the Bangla Akademi with additional events around town including a poetry jam session with Native American poet Joy Harjo and Bob Holman from New York at the Park Hotel on January 31, 2008 and a special presentationon "Give Peace a Chance" at the Bengal Club on February 4, 2008 hosted by Subodh Sarkar and Mallika Sengupta. Yusef Komunyakaa gave a special reading accompanied by a Baul singer on February 8, 2008 also at the Park Hotel.

USKLE delegation members Goutam Datta, Ram Devineni, and Catherine Fletcher worked closely with the Publishers and Booksellers Guild as well as Sunil Gangopadhyay, Subodh Sarkar, and Mallika Sengupta and the Bengali literary community to create the amended program. Despite the setbacks, the American delegation announced the release of its commemorative anthology, A Mingling of Waters, at the symbolic opening of the Book Fair at Town Hall. Copies were presented to West Bengal's Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee by the delegation and its publisher, Supernova, and were on sale at the Bangla Akademi. The delegation used the retooled schedule as an opportunity for its writers to get to know the city of Kolkata, its writers, and its residents more intimately. [ view schedule ]

TIMES OF INDIA

Kolkata Book Fair banned
Jan 29. 2008. [ more ]

KOLKATA: Less than 24 hours before its inauguration, Calcutta High Court has banned the 33rd Kolkata Book Fair from being held on the Park Circus maidan on environmental grounds. The fair was to be held from January 29 to February 10.

The verdict forced the Publishers and Booksellers Guild to do a rethink on the issue and came as a major embarrassment to Kolkata Municipal Corporation, which had taken the initiative to allow the fair to be held at the Park Circus maidan. It was also a blow to the state government, which gave tacit support to the entire effort.

The organizers are in disarray at the turn of events. "There is a difference of opinion in the guild's book fair committee about where to hold the fair. At this moment, we aren't looking for any alternative venue. Where's the guarantee the new venue won't bring in another PIL? We leave it to the city people to decide," said guild secretary Tridib Chattopadhyay.

The loss of face apart, the publishers, decorators and the guild could lose crores if the fair is not held. The guild may have to apply for fresh dates from the international body of book fair organizers.

Christopher Merrill at Book Fair
Christopher Merrill launching the ceremonial book fair.

Chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee, an avid book-lover, said the verdict was "unfortunate".

The guild and KMC, which granted permission, were pulled up by the green Bench of Chief Justice S S Nijjar and Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghosh. The guild has been asked to restore the ground to its original form and hand it over to KMC at the earliest.

Poets at Kolkata Book Fair
Joy Harjo, Suji Kim, Nathalie Handal & Carolyn Forche in India

Setting aside the permissions granted by Kolkata Police and the fire services, the court observed that apart from posing a threat to the environment, holding the fair at the Park Circus maidan would violate Article 14 (equality in the eye of the law) and Article 21 (right to life that includes right to live in a pollution-free environment).

The Bench held that holding the fair would violate laws relating to air pollution, noise pollution and other environmental laws. Pulling up KMC for granting permission to the organizers, it said the civic body did not consider the pollution aspect before giving its go-ahead.

The verdict drew a sharp reaction from mayor Bikash Ranjan Bhattacharya, who said it went against the wishes of the majority. "Some people might benefit from this order, but it is a tremendous blow to the city's image. If there were any technical errors on KMC's part, then the fair could have been deferred instead of being banned. If pollution is the determining factor, then the high court should also be closed down, considering the high level of vehicular pollution in the court's vicinity," Bhattacharya said.

International delegates who've arrived here have been told about the uncertainty the event faces.

In 2007, when a similar court order had booted the fair out of the Maidan, sports minister Subhas Chakraborty had come in as the saviour, offering Salt Lake stadium as the venue. But the state government is yet to come up with a lifeline for the guild this time.

The court verdict is a culmination of a long-drawn battle between the environmentalists and the state on holding fairs at the Maidan, close to Victoria Memorial. In November 2003, the state had assured the court all fairs would be shifted from the Maidan and a permanent complex would come up on the Eastern Metropolitan Bypass.