This year’s book fair has been dedicated to greatest Bengali of all-time and Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on the occasion of Mujib Borsho (Mujib Year). Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Sunday has inaugurated the month-long Amar Ekushey Book Fair 2020.



The fair began on the Bangla Academy premises and at its adjoining Suhrawardy Udyan in the city. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina also distributed the Bangla Academy Sahitya Puroshkar-2019 (Bangla Academy Literature Award) at the opening ceremony.



The award recipients are former Home Minister Rafiqul Islam (Literature on Liberation War), Makid Haider (Poetry), Wasi Ahmed (Literature), Swarochish Sarkar (Essay/Research), Khairul Alam Sabuj (Translation), Rahim Shah (Children’s Literature), Ratan Siddiqui (Drama), Nadira Majumder (Science Fiction), Faruk Moinuddin (Autobiography/Travelogue) and Simon Zakaria (Folklore).



Each winner received a cheque for Tk 3 lakh and crests.



Bangla Academy Sahitya Puroshkar is given by the Bangla Academy of Bangladesh in recognition of creative genius in advancement and overall contribution to the field of Bengali language and literature.



Sheikh Hasina also unveiled a book titled ‘Amar Dekha Noya Chin’ written by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Later, the Prime Minister visited different stalls of the book fair.



This year, the land earmarked for the fair was expanded to 8,00,000 sq ft. A total of 873 units were allocated to the 560 organisations.



breakingnews/fas