8th Karachi International Book Fair sustains traditional intensity despite heavy odds

Pakistan News & Features Services

The eighth edition of the Karachi International Book Fair (KIBF), held at the Karachi Expo Centre in the centrally located Gulshan-e-Iqbal, from December 6 to 10, 2012, succeeded in sustaining the traditional intensity despite the heaviest of odds. 

By turning up in large number on all five days, and evenings, the Karachiites proved once more how much they love to read books even in the age of information technology and internet. 

By purchasing a lot of books on the various subjects that were on offer on discounted prices, they dispelled the impression that the reading habits were on the decline in this part of the world. 

With the publishers of all kinds from different countries of the world in attendance, the bookworms of Karachi availed the opportunity by visiting the fair with their families whose enthusiasm gladdened the stall-holders, who generally kept the margin of profit minimal by offering generous discounts. 

Another heartening feature of the event was the growing ratio of the young visitors who spent a lot of time at the various stalls to have a good look at the huge number of titles on display before making their choice. 

The availability of so many interesting titles on nearly every topic under the sun and that too at heavy discounts brought more and more people to the fair. 

There were a large number students as well as professionals, besides the families, who turned up during the five days of intense activity at three halls of the Karachi Expo Centre. 

According to the organizers, about one million books were on display at 321 stalls, set up by mostly by the publishers in the KIBF 2012. 

They estimated 60,000 to 80,000 visitors on each of the four working days with more than 1.5 million people believed to have turned up on Sunday.

8th Karachi International Book Fair 2012 gets underway

Pakistan News and Features Services

The 8th Karachi International Book Fair (KIBF) 2012 has got underway at the Karachi Expo Centre on December 6. The event will continue for five days until its closure late in the evening on December 10. The entry for the visitors would remain free of cost and the timings would be 10 am to 9 pm. 

The Sindh Education Minister, Pir Mazhar-ul-Haq, was the chief guest in the inauguration ceremony with Dr Farooq Sattar, Federal Minister for Overseas Pakistanis and a former Mayor of Karachi, was the guest of honour. 

More than three hundred stalls have been set up in the three vast halls of the huge complex which is wearing festive look and there has been brisk activity since morning despite the gas problems having choked the city traffic. 

As in the past, the KIBF 2012 is being organized by the Pakistan Publishers and Booksellers Association (PPBA) with the collaboration of the National Book Foundation (NBF). The provincial Education Ministry has also extended its support to make the event a great success and dedicate to promote literacy in the country. 

Around 200 publishers and distributors, including foreign companies, have displayed their collection to attract the students, teachers, librarians, academicians, writers and institutional customers besides the general public. 

The organizers expect a record number of 300,000 people during the five-day event which, they reckon, presents considerable charm to the bookworms with the substantial discounts on offer at nearly every stall. 

Arrangements have also been made to facilitate book launching and book release ceremonies during the KIBF besides holding various contests like drawing, recitation, extempore speech, and quiz for kids in order to keep the audience entertained.

Social media at work to boost 8th Karachi International Book Fair 2012

Pakistan News & Features Services

Keeping pace with the times, the promoters of the 8th Karachi International Book Fair (KIBF) 2012 have included social media in their plans to boost the annual event to be staged at the Karachi Expo Centre from December 6 to 10. 

They have got into email marketing of what has become the country’s largest book trade event being organized by the Pakistan Publishers and Booksellers Association (PPBA), with the collaboration of the National Book Foundation (NBF) with Event and Conference International (Pvt.) Ltd being the event managers. 

A page of the event is also visible on linkedin.com while the participants themselves are also mobilizing their digital acumen to attract more customers to their stalls in the upcoming KIBF acclaimed as the premier book trade event of Pakistan. 

The KIBF Organizing Committee has been conducting their meetings more frequently at their Secretariat located in Mohammad Ali Cooperative Housing Society as the event draws closer. 

Their office-bearers are confident of overcoming the various obstacles and they are optimistic about very high, if not record, turnout of the visitors in the five-day event.

Mining magnate Gina Rinehart’s produces inspirational autobiography

Pakistan News & Features Services

Australia’s mining billionaire Gina Rinehart, one of the world's wealthiest people, followed her illustrious father's footsteps on a second front with the launch a book of political essays titled ‘Northern Australia, and Then Some-Changes We Need to Make Our Country Rich’ on November 22. The launch events were held in Sydney and Brisbane besides Perth. 

The date was significant for the Rinehart family as it coincided with the 60th anniversary of Lang Hancock's flight over the Pilbara, when the prospector discovered some of the iron ore deposits that form the basis of the family's vast wealth. 

For hours at the book launch, giant movie screens rained down recurring grainy images of a younger Rinehart courting politicians and business people in 1979 aboard a chartered Qantas 747 dubbed Wake up Australia. 

The 58-year-old widow with a fortune estimated by Forbes at US$18 billion ($22 billion) preferred to play it safe at the launch where she was surrounded herself with hundreds of supporters mostly from the mining fraternity, where she is revered for transforming her late father's debt-ridden iron ore business into a multi-billion dollar enterprise. 

A long queue of people stood just to get hold of at least one book to have it signed by the author, the wealthiest woman in the world, and Australia's most successful entrepreneur. 

Her book ‘Northern Australia, and Then Some-Changes We Need to Make Our Country Rich’ is a collection of essays, speeches, and poems, calls on politicians, environmentalists and the public to support Australia's miners, the nation's main growth engine, or face the consequences of economic decline. It is spread over 220 pages. 

Rinehart's poetry in the book reinforces the message, in one verse she wrote: "Through such unfortunate ignorance, too much abuse is hurled. Against miners, workers and related industries who strive to build the world." 

 "We don't want to see Australia continue on a course with too many heads buried in the sand, critical investors discouraged by bad policies, or even hated, with too few understanding the problems while Australia moves towards being another Greece, Spain or Portugal,” she concluded.

Miami Book Fair International 2012 proves another success story

Pakistan News & Features Services

The Miami Book Fair International 2012 turned out be yet another success story, proving the point that even in today's technological society, readers love books.

Thousands of people of different age groups attended the eight-day literary party held from November 11 to 18, concluding with a street fair from November 16 to 18. 

The weather was ideal for strolling among the vendors, meeting local and international authors and attending classroom sessions with the famous writers as well as those aiming to make it big. 

There was an expansive children's programme, music, food and entertainment that continued to draw return visitors each year. 

The 29th edition of Miami Book Fair International opened on November 11 with the popular series, featuring six nights of readings and discussions with noted authors from the United States and around the world.

The Street Fair commenced on November 16 whose highlight was the Festival of Authors, with more than 350 authors reading and discussing their work, including the Latin American and Spanish authors. 

During the Street Fair weekend, more than 250 publishers and booksellers exhibited and sold books, with special features like the antiquarians, showcasing signed first editions, original manuscripts and other collectibles. 

The first Miami Book Fair International, founded by Miami Dade College and community partners, had taken place in 1984. Since then it has been recognized as the nation’s finest literary festival.

In 2001, the Fair became part of The Center for Literature and Theatre at Miami Dade College, a cultural and academic initiative that promotes the advancement and appreciation of literature throughout the year. 

The two-day street fair grew steadily each year and by the 1990s, the renamed Miami Book Fair International had become the largest literary festival in the country. 

The eight-day book party draws hundreds of thousands of book lovers to downtown Miami each November for a festival of all things read and written. 

Among the noted authors at early Book Fairs were Mario Vargas Llosa, Garrison Keillor and Allen Ginsberg, Hunter S Thompson, John Updike, Isabel Allende, Tom Wolfe and Alice Walker.

Chess Grand Master Levon Aronian’s biography launched in Armenia

Pakistan News & Features Services

The Armenian President, Serzh Sargsyan, graced the launching of the book dedicated to the life and activities of the triple champion of Chess Olympiads, Armenia's chess team member and International Grandmaster Levon Aronian, on November 23. 

According to the reports, the book has been authored by the mother of the chess player, Seda Aronova on the eve of Aronian’s 30th birthday. 

The Armenian Grandmaster is flying high these days having received ‘Person of the Year’ award instituted by De Facto magazine. 

The Executive Director of the magazine, Menua Harutyunyan noted that the chess player always emerges victorious in international tournaments, bringing fame to his country. 

“I’m glad to know Levon Aronian, who is an embodiment of decency. He has scored numerous wins this year and deserves the award,” the De Facto official was quoted as saying. 

“I’m happy for the award. There are still a number of other tournaments I’m going to participate by the end of the year and hope to justify expectations,” Aronian remarked in the award ceremony. 

“I’m very grateful. This is a great honor for me. As sportsmen, we are more used to receiving awards after victories,” the Armenian Grand Master added. 

Levon Aronian was born on October 6, 1982. On the May 2012 FIDE list, he had an Elo rating of 2825, making him number two in the world and third highest of all time. 

He had broken the 2800 rating barrier in the November 2010 FIDE world ranking with a rating of 2801, becoming only the sixth player to cross the 2800 rating mark with Garry Kasparov, Vladimir Kramnik, Viswanathan Anand, Veselin Topalov, and Magnus Carlsen being the others having achieved the feat.

He won the Chess World Cup 2005 while he led the Armenian national team to the Gold medals in the 2006 (Turin), 2008 (Dresden) and 2012 (Istanbul) Chess Olympics and at the World Team Chess Championship in Ningbo 2011. 

Aronian was declared the best sportsman of Armenia in 2005 and was awarded the title of ‘Honoured Master of Sport of the Republic of Armenia’ in 2009 having represented the country in the Chess Olympiads of 1996, 2004, 2006, 2008, and 2010.

Record participation in Sharjah International Book Fair 2012

Pakistan News & Features Services

The 31st Sharjah International Book Fair 2012, held at the Sharjah Expo Centre from November 7 to 17, created many new records. More than 600,000 visitors were reported to have turned up in the 11-day event and out of them 80,000 were students. 

The record-breaking feat was achieved both in the number of visitors as well as international participation with 924 publishing houses from 62 countries displaying over 1.5 million titles across various stalls and pavilions. 

As many as 90 book signing sessions were also organized during the course of the SIBF 2012 which contributed significantly in making the event a very successful one. 

The SIBF 2012 also witnessed numerous seminars, lectures and interactive activities being held under cultural, cookery, and children’s programmes that provided interactive sidelights to the main event. 

The cultural programme, which included discussions and lectures by famous authors and scholars, highlighted topics in the areas of politics, philosophy, history, art, music, and literature. 

The children’s programme also turned out to be a success story with the active participation of the students having converged from over 150 schools from across the United Arab Emirates (UAE). 

The School children were provided the opportunity to enjoy and participate in over 200 activities combining culture, knowledge and entertainment. 

Several workshops on art, besides story-telling sessions, magic tricks, and creative activities also played a major role in the event’s success. 

The cookery programme also drew large crowds with multi-cultural offerings, recipes, and live demonstrations. It hosted several famous chefs from around the world including Mridula Balijekar from Britain, Manal Al Alem who specialises in Arabic cuisine, and free-lance chef Gerard Baker. 

The cooking demonstrations turned out to be extremely popular with the families who gathered to watch several chefs prepare their favourite dishes and sharing their cooking secrets.