Visitors thronged to New Delhi World Book Fair 2023

Packed with a line-up of author sessions, book launches, workshops and seminars, and an evening of cultural performances, the New Delhi World Book Fair 2023 saw an overwhelming response from book lovers. Held from February 25 – March 5, 2023 at Pragati Maidan, New Delhi, the show was a haven for the book industry professionals.

Over 1000+ speakers and moderators from India and abroad participated in more than 400 interactive sessions, panel discussions, more than 250 book launches, international dialogues and cultural performances in the course of 9 days of the fair. With more than 2000 stalls, both Indian and foreign, more than 10 lakh visitors were spoilt for choice as they browsed and purchased their favourite books.

The inauguration…

Dr. Rajkumar Ranjan Singh, Hon’ble Minister of State for Education, Government of India inaugurated New Delhi World Book Fair 2023. H.E. Emmanuel Lenain, Ambassador of France to India, Vincent Montagne, President, Syndicat National de LEdition, France, Annie Ernaux, Nobel Laureate, France, Pradeep Singh Kharola, Chairman and Managing Director, ITPO, Saumya Gupta, Joint Secretary (NIT) and NBT-India and Shri Yuvraj Malik, Director NBT-India also graced the dais.

Rights Table…

The New Delhi Rights Table – Publishing Conference – was organized on the sidelines of the New Delhi World Book Fair where, on the first day, over 80 publishers from India and 12 other countries met and exchanged their business interests like selling and buying book rights of their respective titles. Ramesh Mittal, President FIP, Prof. Angus Phillips, Director, Oxford International Centre for Publishing, Oxford Brookes University and Shri Yuvraj Malik, Director NBT-India discussed ‘How to Make Optimum Use of a Rights Forum’ in the inaugural session, which was followed by the publishers matchmaking sessions.

CEOSpeak…

CEOSpeak was organised at Ashoka hotel by NBT-India in collaboration with FICCI, on ‘Opportunities in Book Trade Among G20 Countries’. In his address, Sanjay Kumar, Secretary, Department of Education & Literacy, talked about setting up digital libraries in the country which would ensure easy access to content. He added that Internet connectivity offers us a great opportunity, and with data usage, we are moving from paper-based books to a digital world. Yuvraj Malik, Director, NBT-India, talked about the publishing ecosystem and the policy front in Indian education sector wherein he highlighted the ‘National Education Policy’ which emphasizes on multilingualism which would create more opportunities for publishing industry. The event saw participation from CEOs, International Delegates from G20 countries and many Senior Executives from the publishing world.

Other highlights…

Dedicated to India’s year of G-20 Presidency, the G-20 Pavilion (Hall No. 4) exhibited literature from G-20 member nations including India, France, Russia, Mexico, Japan, Brazil, Argentina, Australia, and Turkey in various genres like fiction, non-fiction, history, economy, indigenous culture, etc. The wall of History, which has documented its journey in the previous years was a major attraction. The wall had the history, vision, and future goals of the member countries and the upcoming events that India has planned during its G-20 presidency well documented and showcased. The pavilion also has a sound shower which is an audio technology that lets you experience all there is to know about G-20.

In the Children’s Pavilion (Hall No. 3), back-to-back informative and interactive sessions saw enthusiastic participation from students throughout the fair. While, the Theme Pavilion (Hall No. 5) hosted a huge crowd throughout the fair during its various sessions.

The International Events Corner saw a series of sessions on Indian and world literature. While,the Amphitheatre opposite Hall No. 5 set the stage for the cultural and musical presentations for the entertainment of visitors of the fair.