Delhi Book Fair 2025: A Paradise for Authors and Publishers
The Delhi Book Fair was organised from 6-10 August in Hall no. 12 and 12 A of Bharat Mandapam. This year’s edition also included the 25th Stationery Fair and the 9th Office Automation and Corporate Gifts Fair.
I had to walk quite a distance to reach the venue because private vehicles weren’t allowed. One could get the free ferry service on the way, if they are lucky. On the inauguration day of the book fair, Delhi CM Rekha Gupta gave a speech. Actually, it wasn’t that crowded. Only the media persons with their cameras and lights surrounded her. Her speech was slow and not engaging at all. I walked further to explore the other part of the fair.
The halls anyway were huge, spacious, and there were stalls of all kind.
Stalls
Government of NCT of Delhi
Publications Division- Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Govt. of India
Sahitya Akademi
Champak
Rupa Publishers
Jaico Publishers
Scientology/L Ron Hubbard
Gayatri mantra
Bramhakumaris
Stations related to Yoga, Religious Books
There was this stall particularly related to Freedom Fighters
A stall specifically for Urdu books with barely any public.
Some other stalls and publishers present there were- The Life Eternal Trust, Unicorn Books, Mind Fuel Publishers, Sonalika Gurukul children books, Padam book company, Impressive crafts, Anti- ordinary paper, Arth brothers- stationary, etc.
One could find all genres of book at the fair.
Comic books
Batman, V for Vendetta, The Flash, Daredevil, X-Men, Ghost World, Wonder Woman and more…
Anime
Attack on Titan by Hajime Isayama,
Death Note by Tsugumi Ohba,
Naruto by Masashi Kishimoto,
Jujutsu Kaisen, Fullmetal Alchemist, Vampire Night, Akira etc.
YA Books
Diary of Anne Frank,
Lord of the Flies by William Golding,
The Princess Diaries by Meg Cabot,
Everything Everything by Nicola Yoon,
The Book Thief, Hunger Games, Lord of the Rings, Fault in our Stars and many more.
Fiction
It Ends with Us by Cooleen Hoover,
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte,
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini,
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen,
Anna Karenina by Franz Kafka,
The Great Gatsby, Macbeth, Sherlock Holmes, Alice in Wonderland, Twilight, The Alchemist, Metamorphosis, Diary of a Wimpy Kid, 1984 etc.
Non Fiction
Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari,
A Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking,
Becoming by Michelle Obama,
Freakonomics by Stephen J Dubner,
Into the Wild, The Art of War, How to Win Friends and Influence People etc.
Sahitya Akademi Books
The Shadow Lines by Amitav Ghosh,
The Last Labyrinth by Arun Joshi,
Chanakya, Guide, An Era of Darkness, Things to Leave Behind, and many more.
By Indian Authors
Fasting, Feasting by Anita Desai,
The Blue Umbrella by Ruskin Bond,
The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga,
Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie,
A Suitable Boy, I too had a Love Story, Unaccustomed Earth, India’s Most Haunted, Serious Men, etc.
Hindi Books
Gaban by Munshi Premchand,
Raag Darbari by Shrilal Shukla,
Maila Anchal by Panishwar Nath Renu,
Godaan, Karm Bhoomi, Gunaaho ka Devta, Tamas etc.
Religious books, Self Help books
Autobiography of a Yogi by Paramahansa Yogananda,
Inner Engineering by Sadhguru,
Raja Yoga by Swami Vivekananda,
Think and Grow Rich, Atomic Habits, Ikigai, The Power of your Subconscious Mind, Think and Grow Rich, and many more.
Stationary and other Fun Items
There was a lot of imported stationary, Diary, Files, Journals, Pens, Posters, keychains, Glass frames, Book marks, Fridge magnets, Painting equipment, all kinds of paint colors and brushes. Wooden utensils, Glass utensils and Stanley cups. I also saw Labubu dolls there. And, a stall was selling all kinds of snacks.
Apart from that, there was Washable books, Playbooks, Sketch Books and Creative game packages for Children. A lot of Magazine subscription options were also available at the event, for people of all ages.
There were lots of options for children and syllabus related options for school and college students. There was everything.
Overview
While I was exploring the fair, a hijabi girl made conversation with me out of nowhere, and asked for consent for a TOI audio interview. She asked me a couple of basic questions about the event, my experience there, and the purpose of my visit. I was nervous and at loss of words by the end of it. I was glad while it ended, and I think I did fine.
Now, as I mentioned earlier the CM spoke on the first day of the event. So, there was this makeshift stage build for it, with a few chair placed in front of it. After her speech was over, small Plays and skits were being conducted by Young pupils, probably school and college students.
There were also a lot of students in uniform present at the fair. Some even in groups, accompanied by teachers. There were a lot of old people attending too.
Museum of Illusion had their setup too, wit their inverted chair. And, it was the center of attraction for the kids.
The Food at the fair was abundant. Every fast food chain you could think of was present there in their respective stalls at the food court.
There was a reading area as well. You had to sit on the green carpet near the exit.
To be honest, I found some really unique books at the fair. And a lot of book stalls were selling books for as less as 100, 150, 200 ruppees each, which was an absolute steel. But, one had to be conscious about the book quality like the layout, font size, binding quality. The other drawback was the heaviness of the books. As good quality paper is lighter. Even some books ere really heavy to carry.
I found other stuff there pretty expensive there, the cutesy, aesthetic stuff, the bookmarks, the frames and posters which gathered more crowd than the books themselves.
Overall to me it was a good haul and I’d visit again next year.
