The Bengaluru Book Festival has got off to a slow start, but organisers are hoping that footfall will pick up over the long weekend starting Thursday.
The book festival, which began on October 15, has over 287 stalls selling not just English and Kannada books, but also Telugu, Tamil, Malayalam, and Hindi ones.
However, many readers have expressed dissatisfaction over indie publishers not being part of the festival. “Book collectors and avid readers come to the festival not for mainstream books, but for those from indie publishers which are not easily accessible. Navayana, Orient Blackswan, LeftWord Books, Zubaan Books, Hampi University Press, among others, are not part of the festival. Lesser-known but well-established publishers from Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu that were part of earlier editions of the festival, too, are not participating this time,” said Guruprasad D. Narayana, book collector and seller. Participation from several Kannada publishers from districts has also dropped.
“What has hit the Bengaluru Book Festival is the Dasara Book Festival organised in Mysuru during the same week,” said festival organiser A.N. Ramachandran, who is president of Bangalore Booksellers and Publishers’ Association.
Many first-timers
However, leading publishers, including Oxford University Press, Hachette India, Sage Books, Penguin, Rupa Books, Speaking Tiger, Tamil publisher Kalachuvadu, and Malayalam publisher DC Books have put up dedicated stalls at the festival. This is something the festival is seeing for the first time, said Mr. Ramachandran. He added that 77 publishers are participating in the festival for the first time.
The organisers are happy with the response the festival has garnered so far. “From Thursday to Sunday, we have holidays and we expect footfall to dramatically increase. We hope booksellers make good business and come back next year,” he said.