A total of 26 countries from across the world will be attending the book fair which will witness participation of authors from Russia, Costa Rica, Spain, Scotland, Australia, Argentina, Bangladesh and this year’s theme country Guatemala.

“Six Pakistani publishers had shown interest (in taking part in the book fair) after invitations were sent by us. But they will not be be able to attend it due to visa problems,” Tridib Chatterjee, General Secretary of the Publishers and Booksellers Guild, told PTI.

Pakistan had never taken part the Kolkata book fair.

The Kolkata book fair, which has witnessed the largest footfall among book fairs of the world, will be inaugurated on January 31 and open for the people between February 1 and 10, Chatterjee said.

Though our Western neighbour will not attend the fair, Bangladesh, the neighbour in the East, will be there as usual.

A large number of publishers from Bangladesh will be accommodated in the Bangladesh pavilion, he said adding that ‘Bangladesh Day’ will be celebrated on February 10, the last day of the book fair.

As Guatemala is this edition’s theme country, one of the gates will be the replica of its landmark ‘Arch of Santa Catalina’. Another gate will be the replica of National Museum of Modern Art Carlos Merida of the latin American nation.

To spread the message of amity in the present times, there will be a ‘Sampriti Gate’ at the book fair.

Another gate will be the replica of the ‘Kala Bhawan’, the institute of fine arts at Viva-Bharati university, Santiniketan, which is celebrating its 100 years.

To tickle the taste buds of the visitors, a Guatemala Dessert Festival will be held inside the Guatemala pavilion everyday from 4 to 7 pm.

Guatemala ambassador Giovanni Castillo and the country’s eminent author Prof Euda Morales will attend the inaugural function on January 31 along with West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and others.