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Newdelhi:24/8/21: Noted Odia writer Yashodhara Mishra will receive Kendra Sahitya Akademi award -2020 for her book ‘Samudrakula Ghara’, which was published in 2016.
The names of the awardees were announced by Kendra Sahitya Akademi president Dr. Chandrashekhar Kambar on Tuesday. The award includes a casket containing an engraved copper plaque and a cheque of Rs 1 lakh.
The book, ‘Samudrakula Ghara’, was selected on the basis of recommendations made by the jury comprising Dr Binapani Mohanty, Dr Pratibha Satpathy and Ramakanta Rath.
Mishra has written over 15 collections of short stories, novels, poems, besides other translated works.
Yashodhara Mishra(born 1951) is a well-known Odia writer. She is a professor of English who has published poems, several collections of short stories, and novels. She was a fellow at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study.
Mishra has garnered a number of awards including the Katha Prize Story award
She is a fellow at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study where her research includes rituals and gender and the Women of Orissa. Yashodhara Mishra’s stories are indicative of Indian feminism’s coming of age, as her women protagonists are not infantilized victims, but adults confronting adult problems. They are not afraid to experiment or to take responsibility for their mistakes.
Early Life of Yashodhara Mishra
Mishra has developed a flair for writing right from her student life. She took to writing short stories and since then, there has been no looking back.
Mishra was born to a modest family in the picturesque locale of Sambalpur on January 6, 1951. It will be pertinent to note that writing is in her genes as her father Bhubaneswar Behera (1916–2001) was an engineer, writer, and scholar from the Kalahandi district of Odisha.
Yashodhara Mishra is a proud alumna of Ravenshaw College and Utkal University. Her inclination towards writing was evident from her childhood.
Later life
After completing her education, Mishra went into the profession of teaching that according to her will also keep the learner alive in her. Currently, she is a poet and a professor of English and also plays the role of a visiting faculty in many universities. Writing in her mother tongue has always been her forte.
Awards and recognition of Yashodhara Mishra
Mishra in her illustrious career spanning three decades has perfected the role as an author, poet, and fiction writer. Her writings include around fifteen collections of short stories, three touching novels, and a collection of poems.
Her work in Odia has been translated into Hindi and English which adds to her popularity and repute. She chose to write extensively on her home state, i.e. Sambalpur and her area of research is on Kalahandi Loka Katha (folklores) and narijibana or the lives of women.
Mishra is the proud recipient of Sahitya Academy Award (1989) and Odisha Book Fair Award (1992) for her contribution to literature.
She is a Ph.D. in American Literature and has worked as a Professor of English under the government of Madhya Pradesh. She has graced many literary programmes in the UK, the US, France, Germany, and Mauritius as a speaker and guest. She has also been honoured with Katha Prize Story Award.
She served as a fellow at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study where her research includes rituals and gender and the Women of Odisha. She is the first woman to be the editor of ‘Indian Literature’, the premier literary journal of India, published by Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi.
Popular works
Yashodhara Mishra has written many notable works in Odia and English. Her popular works include Pakhijanma, Janharati, Katha Samarga-1, Yatrik and many other poems and short stories.
Taking the legacy of Odisha forward
Yashodhara Mishra has made Odisha proud. Her writings speak volumes of love for her state. Her writings are lucid and clear with a fine message at the end. She has stood for women’s representation and all her characters are strong women who have a say in the daily affairs of their life.
