BHUBANESWAR: Eminent writer Gayatribala Panda will receive the Sahitya Akademi Award-2022 for her book of poetry ‘Daya Nadi’.The book is about the Kalinga war which was fought on the foothills of Dhauli, located on the banks of Daya river. It has been translated into Hindi as well.
On Thursday, the Sahitya Akademi announced its annual awards in 23 languages including Odia and seven books of poetry including Gayatribala’s work won the award. The awards recommended by distinguished jury members in 23 Indian languages, were approved by the executive board under the chairmanship of president of the akademi Chandrasekhar Kambar.
For Odia, the jury included writers Jayanti Rath, Kshirod Parida and Sudarshan Acharya.Gayatribala has so far authoured 25 books that include 12 collections of poems, two collections of short stories, four novels and one collection of essays. She also edits a literary magazine ‘Anya’.The award includes a cash prize of `1 lakh, a copper plaque, a shawl which will be given away at the presentation event to be notified later.
This apart, the Sahitya Akademi Bhasa Samman-2022 will be accorded to faculty member of Central Sanskrit University at Puri, Uday Nath Jha. He will get the prestigious award for his contribution in the field of classical and medieval literature from the eastern region of India.
Head of Sahitya department of the university, Jha has authored 26 books in Maithili, Hindi, Sanskrit languages and edited 27 books. He works in eight languages including Odia.The Bhasa Samman also carries a cash reward of `1 lakh besides a copper plaque and citation.