Literary fest concludes on a positive note

Strap: Sales worth Rs 30L recorded in 4 days

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, March 5

The four-day-long ‘Amritsar Literary Festival and Book Fair-2021’ at Khalsa College today concluded with a lively folk dance performance as the book exhibition remained the most visited segment at the event. The book exhibition, in collaboration with the National Book Trust, managed to record sales worth Rs 30 lakh in four days.

“The response has been tremendous and we sold a good number of books,” said Gurjant Singh, from the University Publications of Punjabi University, Patiala. The National Book Trust officials also hailed the sales boost for small as well as big publishers post lockdown, calling it the much needed push for business. “The interest shown by the book lovers speaks volume of reading habits that were inculcated during lockdown. This push towards reading sounds promising for the revival of publishing industry that had taken a hit due to pandemic,” said Dr Mehal Singh, Principals, KCA.

Meanwhile, the cultural bonanza and seminars marked the concluding day functions as students of the theatre department of Khalsa College presented play directed by Immanual Singh, titled `Kade Dade Diyan, Kade Pote Diyan’. A seminar on `Sahit, Samaj and Patarkari’ discussed the growing concerns of the quality of the literature and journalism in the present context of commercialisation. Eminent panel of educators and sociologists, including Prof Dr Jagroop Singh, Dr Rajnish Bahadur, Balbir Parwana, Dr Kulwant Singh spoke on the subjects as Dr Atam Randhawa, head, Department of Punjabi Studies coordinated the talk.