Hyderabad Bibliophiles Await Book Festival

Hyderabad: The Hyderabad Book Festival, an annual treat for book lovers is all set to be kicked off on Thursday. The book fair will be held from January 18 to 28 at NTR Stadium in the city.

At a time when an increasing number of users are turning to ebooks and digital content, over 50 prominent publishers from all over India and abroad will set up 333 stalls in the fair, according to Koya Chandramohan, a member of the Hyderabad Book Fair Committee.

The Festival will showcase the entire spectrum of genres--biographies, autobiographies, children's literature, spiritual and personal development, among others, according to Chandramohan. People seemed to evince more interest in the genre of biographies of eminent personalities, apart from all-time favourites across the board such as besides history and literature.

The 10 day festival will feature a number of book launches and various cultural programs. Arches, podiums and gates have been named after prominent literary figures such as Samala Sadasiva, Boya Jangaiah, the first woman writer, Bandaru Acchamaamba and journalists Alisetti Prabhakar and Arun Sagar.

Special Programs For School Children

School children can visit the fair for free while general visitors have to buy a ticket at Rs5. They have to produce their school ID cards for a free entry. Special programs for school children will be organized every day during the fair, said Juluru Gaurishankar, president, Hyderabad Book Fair Committee. To inculcate book reading habit among the children, some interesting programs such as story-telling, essay-writing and elocution will be conducted.

The book fair will be open from 2.30pm to 9pm on week days while it will open at 12 noon on weekends and holidays, the committee said.