Dibrugarh, Oct. 28: The Dibrugarh Book Fair, scheduled to begin at the Chowkidingee playground here from November 15, will host a seminar to discuss ways of collaboration between industry and academia.

Book fair organising secretary Amiyo Hazarika said industrial houses, which have functioned as patrons for different sectors for the development of Assam, should now do so in the cultural and literary fields.

Hazarika said a seminar on the “Role of the industrial units in the progress and development of Assamese literature and culture” will be inaugurated by state forest minister Pradyut Bordoloi on November 20 at 3 pm.

Former Asam Sahitya Sabha president Nagen Saikia will conduct the seminar.

“We have invited representatives of Oil India Ltd, Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Ltd, Assam Gas Corporation Ltd, the Assam oil division of Indian Oil Corporation Ltd, Assam branch of the Indian Tea Association and Williamson Magor to take part in the seminar. It is hoped it will usher in new ways of collaboration between industry and academia,” he said.

Publishers from New Delhi, Agra, Calcutta, Mumbai and Ahmedabad, apart from premier publishers and booksellers of the state, will take part in the fair. The book fair is being held in Dibrugarh for the fourth time.

The fair is being organised by Milan Jyoti Sangha, a socio-cultural organisation of Dibrugarh in association with the All-Assam Publishers’ and Booksellers’ Association. Apart from the seminar, the fair will feature a poets’ meet, an on-the-spot competition for children, a children’s meet and a variety show.

A souvenir entitled Milan Jyoti will also be released during the fair.

“Apart from highlighting the growth and development of Assamese literature, it will focus on the local economic scenario,” Hazarika said.