Ekushey programmes at the ongoing month-long Amar Ekushey Book Fair 2025 began with a 10-day theatre festival on the Mukta Mancha stage on the Suhrawardy Udyan premises on Wednesday, with only a few books on the Language Movement.
The festival, comprising theatre shows, dance and musical performances and poetry recitation, was jointly organised by Bangladesh Group Theatre Federation and Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy in association with the ministry of cultural affairs.聽
Bangla Academy also organised drawing and music competitions for children to observe Amar Ekushey and International Mother Language Day, while the prize giving ceremony will be held on February 22.
The academy will also organise a discussion titled Amar Ekushey Baktrita on February 21 where former Jahangirnagar University professor Anu Muhammad will speak.
鈥榃e will also organise cultural events dedicated to the Language Movement,鈥� said Mahbuba Rahman, in-charge of the programme of the fair committee.
This year a very few new titles on the historic Language Movement were published at the fair.
Writer and journalist Saleh Fuad said that both publishers and writers showed little interest in the Language Movement because it was a politically non-profit issue.
鈥楢n in-depth research needs a huge budget, but most of the publishers are not interested in the investment,鈥� Saleh Fuad said, adding that Bangla Academy will conduct research on the Language Movement.聽
Osman Gani, chief executive officer and publisher of Agamee Prakashani, said, 鈥業t needs in-depth research to write about the Language Movement.鈥櫬�
Sirajul Kabir Chowdhury, the director of Anyaprokash, said, 鈥業t takes a long time to publish a good and authentic book on Language Movement, but the fair demands quick popular productions,鈥� Sirajul Kabir Chowdhury said, adding that this year they have published two new books on the Language Movement .
A total of 70 new titles including 27 collections of poems, seven collections of short stories and six novels were published on Wednesday at the fair, according to the Bangla Academy officials.
A discussion on the life and works of writer Rashid Karim will be held on the academy premises on Thursday.