Sahitya Akademi's annual sale ends today
Sahitya Akademi's annual sale ends today
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On offer are classics, the histories of languages, author biographies, literary journals and films on authors in several languages: English, Hindi, Marathi, Urdu, Kashmiri, Tamil to name a few.
The Sahitya Akademi was established by the government in 1954 to recognise differentu00a0 languages. Its mainstay is translating classics into different Indian languages, so they're accessible to all.
The Akademi conducts literary programmes including meetings with authors, workshops and also recognises authors in 24 languages with 24 annual awards.u00a0
In view of the several international publishing houses sweeping the book market with their glossy covers, the Akademi is also trying to change for the better, says officer-in-charge J Ponnudurai. Since the Akademi is a non-profit organisation, it can venture into off beat subjects without worrying about their saleability. "We could print just 300 copies of a book," he says.
The Akademi sells over 7,000 titles every year. The smaller districts and towns are where sales are maximum.
Tagore's works, reprinted several times,u00a0 are the most popular. The Akademi also brings out books which serve as records for mainly oral languages which have no written matter like the north-eastern dialects of Khasi Garo etc.
As Ponnudurai makes clear the aim of the Akademi: "We make sure no language dies."u00a0
Sahitya Akademi Sale ends today. Call 24135744/1948
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