Chennai International Book Fair 2026: A Conversation Between Civilisations

The Chennai International Book Fair (CIBF) is rapidly becoming one of Asia’s most attractive international book fairs. With three years of grand success and participation from more than 60 countries, CIBF in this 4th edition has attracted participation from 102 countries this year. This event has seen a record high in the number of Expressions of Interest signed, at around 3,000. Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, M.K.Stalin, remarked, “To spread the immense wealth that books are, for years we have been hosting such Book Fairs, and I am proud to say that our 4th CIBF has also been executed to perfection.”

The inauguration ceremony…

The inauguration ceremony of CIBF 2026 was attended by dignitaries like Kanimozhi Karunanidhi, Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha; Madhu Bangarappa, Minister of Primary and Secondary Education, Government of Karnataka; Claudia Kaiser, Vice President of Business Development, FBM; Etienne Rolland, Consul General of France in Pondicherry and Chennai; and Dr. M.Aarti, IAS, Managing Director of Tamil Nadu Textbook and Educational Services Corporation.

During the ceremony, Dr. B. Chandramohan, the Additional Chief Secretary to the Government Department of School Education, expressed that CIBF was not just an event but a living idea. “When we think of civilisations, we tend to picture monuments, statues, and maps. But these aren’t eternal; they corrode, break and are redrawn. Language is the lifeblood of civilization, and it is this language and literature that are passed down, generation to generation, ensuring the civilization lives forever. Tamil is one of the greatest living civilizations of the world, staying rooted in its own soil while also stamping its presence in distant shores. Through translations, we can build bridges and relationships,” he added.

Dr. Anbil Mahesh Poyyamozhi, Minister of School Education of Tamil Nadu, said, “Collaboration, not mere observation, was the goal of this distinguished event. A stage for Tamil voices to be heard, understood and appreciated, as well as an opportunity for all languages to participate in equal dialogue. We should show our acknowledgment to the rich substance that all international and regional languages bring to the discussion. Unity in diversity is the national language of India.”

Claudia Kaiser, Vice President of business development of The Frankfurt Book Fair stated “We need to understand the world wherever we go, and we need the world to understand us. We achieve this through books. Through platforms like this, we can foster networks from which even our German publishers will benefit. So literary opportunities like this are very important to us.”

Panel discussions…

The 3-day conference brought with it a series of 17 panel discussions such as The Threshold: Prison or Launchpad?; Bridging the Gap : Passion vs Pocket; AI: Aladdin’s lamp or the Trojan Horse? and more.

During one such discussion, Thomas Hitoshi Pruiksma said he tries to bring out both a synthetic and lyrical understanding of famous and compelling Tamil works of literature such as Thiruvalluvar’s Tirukkural.

Another discussion brought up the topic “Passion vs Pocket”, which was broached by Simon Trewin clearly stating that the two are inseparable. The former starts the work, and the latter provides the enabling ecosystem running well enough to let the work speak. Jacks Thomas shed light on the tragedy in young readers perusing books only in English and not in their native language.

When debating on The bestseller master piece merchandise or myth, Elena Pasoli remarked that bestsellers aren’t a genre, but a path, a trajectory. “It can be achieved over time.

While discussing the effect and power of translations and building literary partnerships between languages, Manushyaputhiran added that knowledge and literature have not yet been democratized in many places. It is the duty of the writers, publishers, and other literary agents to make their work available to all sections of society. Each culture brings with it generous amounts of knowledge and it is important to have the opportunity to explore what all various cultures bring to the table. Books are a window into people’s worlds,” she said.

This event was concluded with a statement by the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, M.K. Stalin, “To spread the immense wealth that books are, for years we have been hosting such Book Fairs, and I am proud to say that our 4th CIBF has also been executed to perfection.” By bringing Tamil to the world and bringing the world to Tamil, CIBF has accomplished an enormous feat in facilitating collaborations between so many esteemed international and Indian literary agents.

What ended was the event. What begins is the journey. The conversations that had started here will now travel the world across countries, through publishers and readers, gathering numbers, voices and strength as they go.

Tamil To The World And Bringing The World To Tamil Delegates’ Viewpoints….

Adiela Akoo Quilled Ink Press, South Africa, shared: “Our demographic is international because the things we write about are universal. Some of our poetry does attach to some themes specific to South Africa but the unifying factor when it comes to poetry is that we are all one.” Primarily working with poetry, this press expanded into children’s books as well. They publish poet laureates from across the world. The press has already signed several EOIs and hopes to take more soulful Indian poetry to the frontline.

Agnes Debiage, France: As the connector for the African publishers, she spoke about how advantageous it was for her that there was a focus on the literary agents from the African continent and that there were so many delegations invited. “This year, there are 19 publishers from 19 Francophone countries. I can connect them and help them choose the right publisher for their work.”, she stated.

Alyssa Bierzynski, Alybiz, Grenada: As one of the founders of the Grenada Book Festival, which is the first of its kind in the country, she explained how she was passionate about creating a space for Grenadian authors to shift from self-publishing to traditional publishing with the help of the contacts she has obtained at CIBF.

Brooke O’Donnell, IPG, USA: “CIBF has opened the door to publishers I might not have found on my own.” She stated that countries having an English language component act as a sieve for her to determine which new ventures to take on. She also met with publishers she was already familiar with to see how their programmes had developed.

Christian Weiss,Draupadi Verlag, Germany: The publishing house mainly focuses on direct translations of important Indian works of literature from Hindi, Malayalam, Kannada, Tamil and Urdu into German. “Translating and printing costs a lot of money, so I’m hoping to get some financial help by building strong connections at CIBF. It’s great that the government offers such overwhelming support because we are hoping to earn grants to publish more beautiful Tamil literature in German,” he said.

Dinesh Sinha,Ratna Books, India: Typically working with Malayalam, Tamil and Odia translations, they secured more partnerships with the Indian writers and literary agents who were in attendance at the event.

Eric Kuna, University of Technology Press, Papua New Guinea: “India is a very diverse country with so many different regional languages. We hope to mainly focus on translating educational and academic material from Tamil to Tok Pisin and English. Literacy doesn’t reach every part of our country, and I’m hoping these books will help make a change to that,” he commented.

GeumJoo Lin,Co Mint, South Korea: This event had given her the chance to interact with many publishers from many regions of India. “The fair did a great job of facilitating cultural exchange. It is a good gateway to understand more about literary works in different languages.”

Joan Onyando, Ekitabu Publishers, Kenya: “Tamil publishers know what they want and are enthusiastic,” she commented. Seeing their spirit and clear objectives, she feels like Tamil is a very vibrant language and has a very good literary market.

Kannan Sundaram, Kalachuvadu Publications, India: “In other venues, Tamil is one among several languages. In CIBF, it is the main focus of attention.” Tamil is an international language and Sundaram expressed his intent to continue to print and distribute Tamil books all over the world.

Leticia Ibanez, France: “CIBF evolves to foster conversation between Tamil Nadu, the rest of India and the rest of the world, not only about literature, but about novel ways of publishing and brings texts into the spotlight.” Ibanez expressed her gratitude towards the organizers for promoting Tamil literature to the global publishing market.

Mustafa Do?ru, Yumurcak Publishing, Turkey: This family-owned business works mainly with children’s books and some educational material. He expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to interact with literary agents that he otherwise might not have met.

Nour Arab, Nour Publishing, UAE: Specializing in bilingual children’s books, specifically Arabic and English (occasionally French), she has also signed many EOIs to work with Tamil authors to translate her work. “My books are based on real life incidents between me and my children, so to be able to bring them to life is really special”, she said.

Peter Dowling, Oratia Books, New Zealand: “The Indian market is very dynamic. There are many new opportunities available, and we are looking for potential new projects so we can translate them from Tamil to M?ori.”

Stella Johannesdottir, Reykjavik Literary Agency, Iceland: “Passion for books unifies us. We are always trying to find ways to make stories travel,” she said. Being the only literary agency in Iceland, she was eager to be able to speak to agents from different publishing sectors to gain different perspectives on the market, so she can take home information on what various readers are interested in.

V.C.Thomas, Thomas Editions, India: Having been in the literary field for several years, Thomas expressed his sincere appreciation for CIBF, stating that it has been a dream to see an event of this magnitude, monumental success and reach take shape in India. The wide international participation also provides for him a chance to obtain direct translations from Malayalam to other languages, without English as an intermediary.

Dr. P.Vijaykumar, Babasaheb Ambedkar Art and Literature Society Publication, India: The organization mainly publishes books about the unsung heroes of Tamil literature. They work on bringing forth the forgotten work of several Tamil writers and have dabbled in translations from Arabic. CIBF will aid them in expanding their reach and further accentuating the importance of the literary work they revive.