Pratibha Ray, formerly Professor in Education and former Member, Odisha Public Service Commission, is one of the leading fiction writers in India writing in her mother tongue Odia. She has several novels, travelogues, short story, poetry and essay collections to her credit. She is the recipient of the Jnanpith Award for her contribution to Indian literature, the Moorti Devi Award, the Sahitya Akademi Award and the Padma Shri given by the Government of India.
Monalisa Jena was born in Odisha. She is the author of many books in various genres, including two collections of short stories, three books of poems and several volumes of translations
