Hidden gems at the Fair

In 21 years, most of us have become familiar with what the Book Fair has to offer. Yet, there are still a few hidden gems to discover.

Confucius Institute at the University of Kelaniya

Collaborating with the University of Kelaniya, the Confucius Institute’s stall at the Book Fair showcased Chinese culture with a demonstration that involved participants trying their hand at an art form called ‘xingxing’ which was star cutting and calligraphy of the Chinese alphabet. Apart from the demonstration, there were Chinese reading materials that varied from autobiographies, cartoons to travel books and more.

Xinzhi Books

At Xinzhi Books, the store has products from China - colourful pens and notebooks, to little trinkets and umbrellas that had many customers coming in to enjoy the stationery that is different from the norm.

2nd Hand books.lk

Rajitha from 2nd Hand books.lk is one of the many second hand booksellers who come annually for the Colombo Book Fair. Bookselling has been in his family for generations. From his grandfather onwards, the mantle of selling secondhand books has now fallen to him.

“The fact that we have books that are 400 to 500 years old means that we have a lot of first editions. We believe it’s important that we have secondhand books that are available for people. We come every year as people expect us to,” he says.

Although they are a profit-making organisation, they have a library system at their Narahenpita shop which allows people to come and read books that may not be found at national libraries.

As Rajitha aptly put it, “Sometimes, more than the books we find nowadays, the books back then are more meaningful to people.”

Padanama Publications

Padanama Publications offers ‘KetiSatahan’ - tiny books of short notes on a variety of subjects for different grades. Their customer base consists mainly of parents and students who come annually in search of buying these helpful books for the next school year.

Learning Time

In the main hall among all the books mainly geared towards adults, Learning Time’s colourful stall sells sets of books that have eltee pens which allow children to listen to audio as they read. Books such as Amazing Places, allow the kids to learn more about the world while improving their reading skills.

Manga

Jeya bookstore has a small but interesting collection of Manga (Japanese comics) including One Piece, Dragon Ball and Tokyo Ghoul. They also have box sets of manga, which is something most Sri Lankans would have to order if they want to get their hands on it.