The International Children’s Book Fair, Literature Convention and Cultural Festival 2021 will be held from June 19 to 26 from 10am to 7pm at the Public Library, Colombo.
In parallel, the second convention and International Workshop on Children and Youth Literature will be held from June 18 to 20 at the Goethe Institute, Colombo.
The Children’s and Youth Literature Awards Festival will be held on June 14 at the German Cultural Centre.
The International Children’s and Youth Book Fair is organised for the first time in Sri Lanka, providing a new bracket within the book reading culture in our society. The objective of this book fair, literature convention and cultural festival is to introduce children’s books from local and international publishers that conform to high standards of writing and publishing to re-establish and enhance the reading habits of children in the country.
Various activities and workshops on drama, dance, painting music and other cultural programs shall be organised vis-à-vis the aforesaid book fair, in collaboration with national and international cultural centres.
Writers, illustrators, editors and others interested in creating and contributing to children’s and youth literature will be invited to participate at the book fair.
The book fair will be organised in compliance with the same standards applicable to international book fairs such as those held in Bologna, Shanghai and Sharjah with its objective of recognising and encouraging children to become avid readers.
literature books
The objective of this book fair is to promote children’s and youth literature books produced in Sri Lanka and other countries. There will be no text books or stationery items sold at the book fair. The organisers objective is to endeavour to create a child-friendly environment to pique their interest in reading and transport them to a new world of quality reading, with the aid of story tellers, clowns, dancers, singers, artists and other forms of worthwhile entertainment.
Convention
The Convention will be a more developed extension of the Convention held in 2019, organised by IBBY Sri Lanka. The event will be held for three consecutive days from June 18 June to 20. The facilitators of the event will consist of authors, editors and publishers of children and youth publications recognised by local and international platforms. The presenters will contribute by way of physical and online participation. The stakeholders will be selected by calling applications prior to the event.
Books project and Literary Award Festival
One-hundred books project and Children and Youth Literary Award Festival will be a special activity among the many events. One-hundred children and youth books published within the past decade and conforming to high standards of writing and publishing will be selected and recognised. Three recognised books under the categories of Best Book for Children, Best Book for Youth and the Best Books with illustrations will be recognised with certificates and cash awards.
The selected hundred books will be listed in a specific catalogue for promotion among foreign publishers at international forums to explore the possibility of translation. To evaluate and assess whether such books have conformed to applicable standards, a selection committee shall be drawn with the participation of officials or persons of the Educational Publication Advisory Board of the Ministry of Education, The Book Development Council of the Ministry of Education, The Colombo Public Library, The National Institute of Library and Information Sciences of Colombo University and Room to read.
Art festival
Many art and cultural events will be held from June 19 to 26 including, full day open-air activities with the participation of local and foreign cultural institutes, international children and youth film festival, drama and street drama performances, musical fair, art exhibition and activities, conferences and discussions for children. youth and parents, writers forums and platforms to meet authors, illustrators, editors and publishers of children’s and youth publications.