Chennai Book Fair from tomorrow

CHENNAI: The 34th edition of the Chennai Book Fair will be inaugurated on Tuesday by former chairman of the Indian Law Commission Justice A. R. Lakshmanan.
 He will also present the ‘Kalaignar Mu. Karunanidhi' award 2010. Union Minister S. Jagathratchagan is also scheduled to participate in the event.
The 14-day fair, being held at St. George's Anglo Indian School on Poonamallee High Road, would have 646 stalls spread over 1.5 lakh sq.ft.
The Booksellers and Publishers Association of South India (BAPASI), the organisers of the fair, would also conduct special events for children.
About three lakh tickets have been issued free of cost to school children to enable them to visit the fair. Addressing media persons here on Saturday, BAPASI secretary Rama Lakshmanan said that seven lakh visitors visited the last edition of the fair.
One fourth of the 10 lakh titles, which will be on sale at the fair, would be new, he said. Book publishers from New Delhi, Agra, Hyderabad, Bangalore and various parts of Tamil Nadu would be participating in the fair. A uniform discount of 10 per cent would be available on all books.
Winners of the ‘Kalaignar Mu. Karunanidhi' award, instituted by the Chief Minister through a corpus fund of Rs.1 crore, would receive Rs.1 lakh each.
The award is given to four writers in Tamil, one writer of a regional language and one Indian writer in English.
Tamil writers Abdul Rahman (poetry), R.M.Periyakaruppan (essays), G.S.Ramanujam (drama) and C.S.Lakshmi (short stories), have been chosen for the award.
Literary translator Arjun Dangle was chosen for his contribution to Marathi literature. Ka. Chellappa was chosen for the award for Indian writing in English, Sethu Chockalingam, BAPASI president, said. Eminent writers, poets and film personalities would participate in the fair, Mr. Chockalingam added. The finals of quiz, elocution and essay contests for school and college students will be held at the fair venue, which is opposite Pachaiyappa's College. On-the-spot registrations would be allowed, the organisers said.
While the entry fee has been fixed at Rs.5 per person, it would be free for children and school students.
The fair would be open from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m. on working days and 11 a.m. to 8.30 p.m. on holidays. For more details, log on to: www.bapasi.com