The nine-day New Delhi begins on Saturday at the Pragati Maidan. The theme for this year's event is Manushi, which will focus on writings on and by women.

Minister of State for Human Resources Development Mahendra Nath Pandey will inaugurate the fair, while Human Resource and Development Minister Prakash Javadekar will inaugurate the theme pavilion on Tuesday.

The fair will witness participation of nearly 800 publishers from across the country and abroad. An official release said the fair will exhibit the rich tradition of women writings from ancient times till present.

Posters and panels of some of the eminent women scholars of ancient and medieval India, and women pioneers of modern India will provide an intellectual ambience to the presentation. Besides, books on different genres like fiction, poetry, social science and children's literature will form the main ingredients of the exhibition.

Around 20 countries, including China, Egypt, France, Germany, Japan and Iran are participating in the Foreign Pavilion.

A number of activities like seminars, panel discussions, storytelling sessions and workshops on creative writing will be organised at the Children's Pavilion.

The Book Trust (NBT), which is celebrating 60 years of its foundation, will showcase its journey in promoting books and reading at a special exhibit called 'This is no looking back'.

The exhibit will display the varied activities that the NBT has undertaken in promoting books including organising book fairs.