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Bhubaneswar: Eminent Odia writer Pratibha Ray was conferred the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Fellowship during a special ceremony held at the Sanskruti Bhavan auditorium here Thursday. Sahitya Akademi President Dr Madhav Kaushik presented the Fellowship plaque to Ray and described her as a “living legend of Indian literature” in his presidential address.

The programme began with an invocation song by Adyasha Das. Sahitya Akademi Secretary Varun Gulati delivered the introductory remarks and read out the citation for the Fellowship. A literary interaction session was also organised on the occasion under the chairmanship of Gaurahari Das, Convener of the Odia Advisory Board of Sahitya Akademi. Ray is the first woman writer from Read to receive the Sahitya Akademi Fellowship, added Das.

Eminent writer Devaprasad Dash, Professors Sanghamitra Mishra and Prafulla Kumar Mohanty spoke on the life and works of Ray, highlighting her significant contribution to Odia and Indian literature. Accepting the honour, the Yajnaseni writer delivered her acceptance speech and talked about the importance of the Odia mother tongue and the state’s rich literary tradition. A large number of writers, students and scholars attended the programme.

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