19th Karachi International Book Fair concludes

The 19th Karachi International Book Fair (KIBF) being held at the Expo Centre concluded on Monday. The five-day event attracted over 550,000 visitors, including students, scholars and book lovers, from Pakistan and abroad.

The book fair featured 330 stalls from 40 institutions of 17 countries. Publishers offered discounts of up to 70 per cent on the final day. The Turkish stall distributed free books, drawing a large crowd.

The event also featured book launches, author meet-and-greets and poetry recitals. Senior journalist and renowned poet AH Khanzada’s book ‘Ishq-e-Aqeeda’ was launched at the event, along with 10 other authors’ books.

Sindh Governor Kamran Khan Tessori announced the Tamgha-e-Imtiaz award for KIBF Convener Waqar Mateen. Addressing the closing ceremony, Mateen said that all records of public attendance were broken this year. He announced that future book fairs would include cultural and poetry programmes, as well as dialogues between authors.

Mateen, Pakistan Publishers & Booksellers Association (PPBA) Chairman Aziz Khalid, KIBF Deputy Convener Syed Nasir Hussain, PPBA Secretary Taha Jamal, Coordinator Sheikh Alamgir Yousuf, Floor Head Nadeem Akhtar, Media Coordinator Abid Zubair and others thanked all the visitors for participating in the book fair.

They noted that the large turnout of students, scholars and other people boosted their morale and demonstrated the people’s love for books. They also noted that the number of people participating in the 19th KIBF demanded that the event be held twice a year, and be extended to other cities of the province.