Chennai Book Fair to honour literary contributors with awards


The 48th Chennai Book Fair, organized by the South Indian Booksellers and Publishers Association (BAPASI), is set to take place at the YMCA Grounds in Nandanam, Chennai, from December 27 to January 12. Tamil Nadu Deputy Chief Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin will inaugurate the event, which will be open daily from 2:00 PM to 8:30 PM, and from 11:00 AM on holidays. Entry is free for school students, while others will pay a nominal fee of ₹10. The prestigious Kalaignar Porkizhi Awards will be presented during the fair, recognizing literary excellence in various categories. This year’s recipients include Arunan for prose, Nellai Jayantha for poetry, Suresh Kumar Indrajith for novels, N. Sriram for short stories, Kalairani for drama, and Nirmalya for translations. Other notable awards will honor Karpagam as Publisher, Kothandaraman as Librarian, Bell Co as Bookseller, Jyothi Sundaresan as Children’s Writer, Saba Arunachalam as Tamil Scholar, Parveen Sultana as Female Writer, Sankar Saravanan as Science Writer, Pon. Manickam for Poetic Literature, and Marabin Mainthan Muthaiya as Self-Help Writer. The closing ceremony will feature Justice Mahadevan as a special guest. The Chennai Book Fair remains a vital platform for celebrating literature and promoting reading culture in Tamil Nadu.