Russia will be focal theme country of the 44th edition of the International Kolkata Book Fair, to be held from 29 January to 9 February in Kolkata. This edition of the fair will familiarise Indian readers about the Russian Children and Classic books and it will also witness launch of many contemporary bestselling books, both for children and adults translated into Bengali.

“We are happy to announce that the translation from Russian to Bengali has started again and is being supported by the Institute of Literary Translation, Russian Federation. Many Russian authors will be present in the fair. This new initiative of translation to bridge the two literatures will continue for Bengali and other Indian languages in the near future,” said Tridib Kr. Chatterjee, president of Publishers and Booksellers Guild.

This is the first time when Russia will be a focus country of the International Kolkata Book Fair, the largest attended book fair of the world. The theme-country Russia Day will be celebrated on 30 January and day will be marked with various cultural activities from Russia.

“This is the first time when we are participating as a focus country and it is a great honour for us and participants from the Russian Federation. It is a unique opportunity to present our modern literature, modern writers which are already well known and awarded different international honours among Indian readers,” said Mikhail M.Ktitorov, the first secretary, Embassy of the Russia Federation.

“This year, 2020, will mark friendship for both India and Russia. The whole year will witness various cultural and literary events,” he added. Apart from Russian authors, a good number of renowned authors from Australia, France, United Kingdom, Peru and other countries will be attending different sessions, book launch and other events.

The fair will also celebrate the 200 birth anniversary of Pandit Ishwar Chandra Vidyasagar, a great personality of the Bengal Renaissance. Also, it would pay homage to departed stalwarts in the literature field and other fields in 2019 like Girish Karnard, Adrish Bardhan and others.

“You will be glad to know that last year around 2.4 million book lovers visited the fair and books worth 21 crores were sold,” added Chatterjee. Along with the book fair, the Kolkata Literature Festival 2020 will also be organised for three days from 6 to 8 February.