Poet, journalist and literary magazine editor Gayatribala Panda was recently conferred with Young Writer Award by the Central Sahitya Akademi for her work in Odia literature.
She is the first Odia writer to have bagged the award instituted by India’s national academy of literature to honour young writers in all languages.
The gifted poet, now in her mid-30s, had the honour of participating in SAARC young writers’ meet and the Commonwealth writers’ meet earlier. And she has also been the recipient of the State Youth Award for poetry in 2000 in addition to several such recognitions including the ‘Basant Muduli Kabita Samman’ .
She has six collections of poems published by well-known publication houses of the State besides the Odisha Sahitya Akademi. Nearly 700 of her poems have appeared in various literary magazines and Odianewspapers.
Gayatribala started writing poems at the age of eight and her grandfather’s huge library in their idyllic village nurtured her poetic sensibilities further.
“My grandfather was a versatile writer who loved the process of writing more than seeing it published,” recollects the writer who also shares a similar attitude towards her career as a writer. At 12, her poems got published in a few children’s magazines. However, it was the State Youth Award that brought her to limelight, she acknowledges.
A bank officer by profession, Gayatribala’s father was always passionate towards poetry and took pride in his daughter’s talent. “He selected 50 of my poems and submitted them for an award when there was an advertisement by the Government. As per the provision, Odisha Sahitya Akademi published the poems in a book form. These recognitions made my writings reach a larger section of readers, eminent writers and editors and publishers of literary publications,” she says.
Gayatribala emerged as the Utkal University topper in library and information science and studied journalism at Indian Institute of Mass Communication. She then joined a leading Odia newspaper where she worked for the literary page.
“However, I quit my job after two years as I decided to focus completely on creative writing,” says the writer who edits and publishes the literary journal Anya.
Though many of her readers often brand her as a feminist, Gayatribala, who was the president of student’s union of Sailabala Women’s College, refutes it.
“It’s true that I write more on women but I am not feminist. Being a woman, it is obvious that I experience and observe the difficulties that women face and that gets reflected in my writing. I am also equally fascinated by nature, village life and social issues as a writer,” says Gayatribala, who also writes short stories and novels.