A two-day Hasan Azizul Haque literature fair began in Rajshahi on Friday.
Rajshahi Lekhok Parishad and Rajshahi University are jointly organising the fair on the premises of Rajshahi College and RU Senate Building.
Over 150 poets, writers, literary personalities, academicians, and researchers from Bangladesh and India are taking part in the fair.
Ekushey Award-winning writer and RU Bangabandhu Chair Professor Sanat Kumar Saha inaugurated the fair by hosting flags and releasing balloons at 9:00am on Friday.
Following the inauguration, language movement veteran Mosarraf Hossain Akhunji unveiled the cover of 鈥楲ekhon鈥�, a literary piece of work by Rajshahi Lekhok Parishad.
Among others, RU vice-chancellor professor Golam Sabbir Sattar, Bangla Academy Award-wining poet Asad Mannan, Indian poet Mridul Dasgupta, Rajshahi divisional additional commissioner Tarafder Md Akther Jamil addressed the inaugural ceremony as special guests.
Rajshahi Lekhok Parishad president Ruhul Amin Pramanik chaired the inaugural ceremony.
Besides, Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Board, Rajshahi chairman professor Aliul Alam, Rajshahi College principal professor Abdul Khaleque, Rajshahi Govt Women College principal Jubaida Ayesha Siddiqua, language movement veteran Mosarraf Hossain Akhunji, and freedom fighter Abdul Mannan addressed the inaugural ceremony as honorary guests.
The first-day programmes included literary discussion, poetry recitation, song performance, and screening of a documentary on life and works of Independence Award-winning fiction writer Hasan Azizul Haque.
This year, a total of six poets and writers will be given the 鈥楬asan Azizul Haque Sahitya Padak-2024鈥� for their outstanding contribution in six separate sections of literature.