September book and literary fairs

“A book is a version of the world. If you do not like it, ignore it; or offer your own version in return.” Salman Rushdie

The Sunday Island of 20 September carried a four paged Literary Month supplement titled Read to Lead. Among many interesting articles was Vijita Fernando’s September – the month of the stars! in which she writes about the State Literary Awards, “the main aim of which is to encourage creative artists who play a significant role to enrich arts and culture of the land.”

September being named Sahitya Maase, the annual venue for the awards ceremony is shifted to different parts of the island, seeming to prefer remoter places like Kamburupitya and Mahawa in the Anuradhapura District to which Vijita journeyed with a friend when she was awarded the Sahitya Ratna. This prestigious literary award honors three eminent artistes writing in each of the three languages “who contributed to the uplifting of art and culture.”

As in Sri Lanka, September is celebrated as the Literary Month (sometimes also called Literature Month) in many other countries, headlined by the International Day of Literacy on September 8. In most countries, this event is preceded by Read a Book Day (September 6) and Buy a Book Day (September 7)

Accessing Internet, I found that many international literary and book fairs are held in September. While the September equinox (21 to 24) officially marks the beginning of autumn by the world’s northerners, in the southern hemisphere the end of winter is celebrated. Thus winter and its stay-at-home habit in the northern hemisphere may have prompted booksellers and publishers to advertise books on sale.

Sri Lanka marks the month with its massive Colombo International Book Fair sponsored and organized by the Sri Lanka Book Publishers’ Association. The crowds that queue at the BMICH is happy testimony to the fact that we are a reading nation, appreciating the printed book. Parents are always willing to spend on books for their children, with generous concessionary prices offered by the various stall holders at the fair. A major publisher, S Godage and Bros (Pvt) Ltd, holds its awards ceremony within this month.

Galle and Jaipur Festivals

Sri Lanka held its very popular literary festival for five days in Galle every January, where well known international writers and performers, plus locals, were invited to participate. It started off as the Galle Literary Festival by Geoffrey Dobbs which became the Fairway Galle Literary Festival with Fairway Holdings taking on chief sponsorship. January probably was selected as it was within the tourist season when the southern seaboard particularly, gets crowded with foreigners. It was also proximate in date to the Jaipur Festival so writers and others could take in both with one flight to South Asia. We did not have the FGLF this year though January was well before the Covid 19 pandemic. It stalled for three years previously when Dobbs was away from the island. I have a jaunty feather in my cap as a woman who was present at all the GLFs. Two members of my family timed their home return visit for January. One made a special visit across oceans and lands to attend the ZEE Jaipur Literary Festival started by William Dalrymple and Namita Gokhale. She was somewhat disappointed. While the local festival charges quite heavily for events and offers a festival pass at around Rs 15,000/- the Jaipur fest is free of charge and runs, often, eight sessions concurrently. One can imagine the crowds, now with a huge shudder running down one’s spine.

Internet carries a list of the twelve best lit and book fests for bookworms by Akanshe Ghansiyayah which unfortunately did not include our GLF. Some of the best as listed by the author are Berlin and Brooklyn book festivals both in September; Edinburgh International Book Fair runs alongside the Edinburgh Festival of the arts – this year virtual; Hay Festival of Literature and Arts in Wales with a section for children named ‘Hay Fever for Kids’. LA Times holds an international festival sponsored by the University of California; Sydney Writers’ Festival; PEN World Voices Festival of International Literature and a festival in New York started by Salman Rushdie. (PEN originally stood for Poets, Essayists, Novelists but now stands for Poets, Playwrights, Editors, Essayists and Novelists, and includes writers of any form of literature, including journalists and historians)..

In Britain, as I read, literature, libraries and books are celebrated all through the month of September, titling it ‘Be Kind to Writers and Editors Month’. Included are Sign-Up Month; Read a Book Day, Google Day on September 7 which was the date in 1998 when Larry Page and Sergey Brin, PhD students at Stanford University, inaugurated Google. International Literacy Day follows on the next day and Roald Dahl Day, Hobbit Day, Dear Diary Day, and National Comic Book Day follow. The final week in September is Banned Books Week and the Wednesday of that week is Banned Websites Awareness Day.

The London Book Fair is 50 years old which grew out of a specialist event for librarians and for small publishers to exhibit their work. It is now a massive international affair held in Olympia, second only to Frankfurt’s.

Mention must be made of the New Delhi Book Fair which is India’s second oldest English Language fair first held in 1972. The older one is held in Kolkata, the British Raj’s city.

Imperishable, everlasting books

The very word ‘book’ is both exciting and satisfying, particularly in these days of e-books and reading from ipads and kindles. We need not write in praise of the book in its published form of cover and leaves and pages as it possesses and boasts many benefits.

I well remember how librarians in the late 1960s feared the demise or extinction of the book in its familiar form challenged by the marvels of electronic technology. But it has survived and will, thankfully survive, for even on-line kids still love to actually turn the pages of a book. The Chinese invented paper and printing with movable type, but equally famed is that Julius Caesar in his heyday as a conquering general bringing back riches and slaves and even once Cleopatra with his son by her, to Rome, had a library in his home. This was between 104-44 BC. Hence Cicero’s dictum (106-43 BC): “A room without books is like a body without a soul.”

Praising the published book, Thea Doru advised “Take a good book to bed with you – books do not snore.”

A comment I read long ago which has stayed in my mind is this well known person, (whose name I do not remember), saying that he entered a room of a family and found one at a computer, another with a laptop in hand, another listening to some device. In a corner sat a child, under a lamp, reading a book. He said it lifted his heart and gave him hope for the future.

Encourage books

It seems to be a responsibility for parents to encourage book reading. Books in English may be pricey but books in the vernacular are comparatively cheap. Publishing fiction in English is considered unprofitable by many book publishers; but if they do help writers in English it would be a service they perform.

I derive immense gratifying pleasure from a compliment paid me by my children. They gratefully say that their parents, by example and action and advice, led them to read books and opened up the wealth available in the written English language.