The world’s biggest book fair (by visitor attendance) gets underway today in Kolkata, India, and by the time it winds up, on February 11, best part of 2.5 million people will have been excitedly meeting authors, participating in literary events and, yes, buying books.
Not least the books of Scottish crime writers, with some encouragement from three big-selling names in Scottish crime fiction – Val McDermid, Graeme Macrae Burnet and Abir Mukherjee, who will be at the fair to promote the work.
Bloody Scotland is an anthology of Scottish crime fiction being published for the first time in India by Kolkata-based publishers BEE.
Bloody Scotland Chair Jenny Brown, said,
We know from our visit to KLF last year that there is a huge appetite for Scottish classics including the Sherlock Holmes mysteries and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll & Mr Hyde – now we want readers to try contemporary writing.
Events of this size present huge logistical problems, and this year extra security is in place to make sure booklovers can go about their business safely. The event has been divided into four zones, each with two watch-towers to oversee the venue from high, and an app has been made to allow visitors to navigate the grounds easily using their mobile phones. 200 buses will help ensure visitors get to and from the nine gates to the grounds.
