KARACHI: One would have thought that five days for a book fair was a trifle excessive. But given an exceptionally large number of people that fervently visited the 18th Karachi International Book Fair (KIBF) from Dec 14 to Dec 18 to get their hands on all kinds of books vindicates the decision taken by the organisers — the Pakistan Publishers and Booksellers Association (PPBA). It was heartening to see men, women and children from all strata of society throng Expo Centre, where the fair is held on an annual basis, for the love of books.

Social media can be ruthless in dissecting a public event. Literature festivals are a cogent example of it because they are taken to the cleaners on Facebook and X, formerly twitter, with ferociousness for their shortcomings. For the KIBF, though, the comments were favourable in general. In fact, most of them, by renowned writers and readers, praised it no end, claiming that readers in our society are alive and kicking; and Karachi has the highest number of book lovers. Even if anyone disputes this affirmation, videos of big queues from midday to dusk at the entrance gate of the venue for five days on the trot would verify how successful this year’s edition of the fair has been.

On the last day of the event, a journalist and poet urged his followers and friends on Facebook to reach Expo Centre because the opportunity to get a variety of reading material under one roof will come after a whole year. Another wrote that a publisher from Punjab told him that not half the amount of books is sold in Lahore compared to what he saw in Karachi. This made him infer that [comparatively speaking] the passion to read has now shifted to Sindh.

Talking to Dawn on Tuesday, PPBA chairman Aziz Khalid said, “I can’t give an exact figure on how many people paid a visit this year because the counters provide information after two days of the event. I can conjecture that more than 500,000 people came to the fair from Thursday to Monday. Usually, what happens is that on the first day, the attendance is a bit thin. But this year, I was pleasantly surprised to notice that schoolchildren, boys and girls studying at various colleges, and madressah students arrived on the inaugural day packed in buses and other vehicles.”

Mr Khalid puts it all down to the success of his team’s effort in trying to ‘develop a culture for the last 18 years’. He thinks ‘English medium’ private schools, no matter which part of the city they are located, have played a significant role in it by coming up with library corners in their schools.

Then there’s one more important factor that he highlighted, “This time around, we came across publishers who printed books other than those mentioned in the curriculum. It means that authors are being recognised. In our society, writers get acknowledge in the twilight of their careers. This seems to be changing. It’s a positive sign. At the fair, most of the books that were launched were penned by young authors.”

It is indeed encouraging.

Published in Dawn, December 20th, 2023