Book Fair's literary dream fades as books gather dust

Fluorescent lights flickered across rows of empty pavilions. A bookseller sat slumped against a stack of unsold novels, checking his phone for the third time in ten minutes. It was the fourth day the Amar Ekushey Book Fair, and he hadn't sold a single book.

'If this continues', he muttered to a colleague, 'we won't even cover our iftar expenses'.

Country's most cherished literary tradition now teetering on the edge of irrelevance. A total of 42 new books have been submitted to the information center on Sunday.

This year's fair didn't just start late; it stumbled into existence like guests arriving disheveled to their own wedding. 

Originally set for February 1, later moved to February 25. Finally, on the night of February 24, organizers announced that it would open on the February 26. Publishers had barely forty-eight hours' notice. Many didn't bother printing new titles. Why invest in uncertainty?

Drama didn't end there. Poet Mohan Rayhan was announced as a Bangla Academy Award recipient, then abruptly had his prize suspended. After a theatrical press conference at Jatiya Press Club, he announced that he would accept the award but donate the prize money to struggling writers which is a gesture both noble and deeply ironic in a country where even award-winning poets must make such sacrifices.

But the real tragedy isn't the administrative chaos. It is what's happening to country's book industry itself.

Walking through Suhrawardi Udyan on Sunday evening, the fair resembled a corpse. Twinkling lights adorned meticulously arranged stalls, but visitors drifted past like ghosts, purposeless and distracted. Most didn't stop to browse. Those who did rarely bought anything.