Kolkata, Jan 25 (IANS) Pullitzer Prize winning US author Richard Ford Tuesday sounded the gong to inaugurate the 35th Kolkata International Book Fair. The 12-day fair has the US as the theme country.
Speaking on the occasion, Ford said: ‘It is an wonderful experience. We are honoured as America is chosen as the theme country’.
He said India and the US shared the same values and culture.
Writers of different countries had to fight for their freedom, but in India and America, literatteurs had always experienced freedom of writing. ‘This book fair is dedicated to this value,’ Ford said.
West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee said the book lovers would have a greater opportunity to read American literature at the fair. ‘The city is familiar to American literature. Jack London and Edgar Allan Poe are very popular in Bengal,’ he said.
Bhattacharjee said the fair had become an important event in the city and ‘added value to our cultural life’.
‘It inspires people across all generations. It also inspires districts and small towns of our state to hold book fairs,’ he said.
US Ambassador Timothy J. Roemer also attended the function.
Publishers and book sellers from 14 countries have put up 522 stalls at the fair.
