41st book fair to begin on January 10toi | Updated: Jan 6, 2018, 00:41 IST

Chennai: The 41st Chennai Book Fair is set to be held at St George Anglo-Indian School on Poonamallee High Road for 13 days from January 10 to 22. School education minister S A Sengottaiyan will inaugurate the fair, which is being organised by the Booksellers & Publishers' Association of South India (BAPASI).

More than 700 stalls, including 428 Tamil book stalls, 234 English book stalls and 22 multimedia stalls, will be part of the fair. Books on various subjects, including environment, architecture, food, health, cinema and music, will be on exhibition for sale. Separate stalls have been set up to sell Braille books for the blind.

Participants of the fair include Sahitya Akademi, University of Madras, International Institute of Tamil Studies, National Book Trust, Tamil Nadu textbook corporation, Thanjavur Saraswathi Mahal Library and Gandhian Literature Society.

BAPASI president S Vairavan said, "Ahead of the book fair, city schoolchildren will conduct a musical performance at the venue on Monday." The musical event will be attended by publishers, including Biplob Bhaktha of Scholastic India and journalist A Kumaresan.

As an added attraction, a massive Thiruvalluvar statue at the fair will be inaugurated by minister for Tamil official language and Tamil culture K Pandiarajan.

Art and cultural competition will be conducted for schoolchildren. Elocution contest will be held for school and college students. Short films made by budding filmmakers will get a special screening at the venue. The screenings are open for the public and will be attended by eminent film directors and actors.