MINISTER of Culture, Youth and Sport, Dr Frank Anthony, declared open the second Mashramani Literary Street Fair yesterday in Main Street Avenue, Georgetown.

He said he hopes the enthusiasm seen will make it an annual feature for the Mashramani celebrations.
“It is very important that we keep the reading tradition alive, because not a lot of persons know that our country has a publishing history. This year, as we celebrate our 44th Republic Anniversary, we want to focus on our folklore, especially with the present generation having access to Internet, foreign television and so forth.
“We tend to devalue what we have, if we do not understand our cultural folklore,” he remarked.
This initiative is not the first of its kind as it was initially started for Mashramani, by Mr. Petamber Persaud in 2011, under the auspices of the Ministry of Culture.
However, despite an overwhelming response to the first literary street fair, the idea was not followed up for two years. Nevertheless, the activities slated for this day are dedicated to reading and sharing the work of the nation’s renowned writers.
The agencies participating in this year’s street fair are the University of Guyana (UG), the National Centre for Educational Resource Development (NCERD),the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sport,the National Library,The Book Foundation,the Georgetown Reading and Research Centre,The Guyana Heritage Society,The Arts Journal,The National Trust and The Guyana Institute of Historical Research.
The fair caters for a book exhibition and sales, literary displays, reading and story-telling; but important books will be on sale and those needed by students during their school term will be on sale at affordable prices, while some required at the university level will also be available.