Bibliophiles in the city and elsewhere have a reason to cheer as organisers of the Kolkata book fair have made arrangements to live-stream all events and launches at the annual carnival, which is set to kick off at Salt Lake, near here, on January 31.
The general secretary of Publishers and Book Sellers Guild, Tridib Chatterjee, said more than 950 stalls will be set up at the fair, to be inaugurated by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee.
Eminent Bengali writer Shirshendu Mukhopadhyay will be felicitated at the inaugural ceremony.
"An eclectic mix of reputed and not-so-reputed publishers and authors from across the world, including countries such as the US, the UK, France, Italy, Japan, Argentina, Mexico, Cuba, Australia, Iran and Bangladesh, will be putting up stalls at the 46th International Kolkata Book Fair. Thailand will jump the bandwagon as our new guest this year," Chatterjee stated.
He also claimed that the "fair had never before hosted as many as 950 outlets".
The senior guild official maintained that bookworms unable to make it to the fair this time can get a virtual feel of all the fun and excitement at its dedicated website 'kolkatabookfair.net'.
With Spain being the theme country, a replica of the Toledo Gate of Madrid (Puerta de Toledo), along with models of other landmark buildings and structures from other places, will be erected at various entry points of the fair.
A special pavilion, dedicated to 100 years of Abol Tabol by Bengali poet-writer Sukumar Roy, will be set up with comic illustrations of Hansjaru and Kumropatash adorning its walls, he told PTI.
Guild President Sudhanshu Sekhar Dey said thousands of books will be distributed among children free of cost on the first Sunday of the book fair "as a mark of tribute to Ray".
Special Metro and bus services will be available for people willing to visit the fair, which is set to conclude on February 12.