Pratibha Ray is an Indian academic and writer. She was born on 21 January, 1943 at Alabol, a remote village in the Balikuda area of Jagatsinghpur district formerly part of Cuttack district of Odisha state.
She is one of the famous commercially popular fiction writers in contemporary India. She writes novels and short stories in her mother tongue Odia. Her first novel Barsa Basanta Baishakha, 1974 , proved itself as a best seller for its readability among rural female half literate readers. Later Pratibha developed the tendency to attribute the boldness, the revolt and humanism in her literature to the impact of Vaishnavism, her family religion, which preaches no caste, no class and also due to the influence of her Gandhian teacher-father, Parashuram Das.
The search for a "social order based on equality, love, peace and integration", continues, since the novelist and short story writer first wielded her pen at the age of nine. When she wrote for a social order based on equality without class, caste, religion or sex discriminations, some of her critics branded her as a communist and some as feminist. But She says "I am a humanist. Men and women have been created differently for the healthy functioning of society. The specialities women have been endowed with should be nurtured further. As a human being however, woman is equal to man".
She is married to Sri Akshaya Chandra Ray, an Engineer. When her three children, one daughter (Adyasha) and two sons (Anwesh and Ayaskant), arrived in three consecutive years of marriage, she forgot all about being a writer in bringing them up. At the end of five years she wondered whether she would be able to resume her writing and post-graduate studies. But the support she received from her husband and inspiration from her parents helped her to pursue writing and post-graduate studies. She did her Masters in Education and Ph.D. in Educational Psychology, after sending her three children to school. Her post doctoral research was on tribalism and criminology of Bondo Highlander, one of the most primitive tribes of Orissa, India.
Selected works
NOVELS
Barsa Basanta Baishakha, 1974
Aranya, 1977
Nishidha Prithivi, 1978
Parichya, 1979
Aparichita, 1979. (A film was made & won best film story award from State Govt. Culture Deptt.)
Punyatoya, 1979. (Tr. To Hindi)
Meghamedura, 1980
Adhibari, 1980
Ayamarambha, 1981
Nilatrishna, 1981. (Tr. to Hindi)
Samudrara Swara, 1982. (Tr. to Hindi)
Shilapadma, 1983. (Orissa Sahitya Akademi Award, 1985; Tr. to Hindi, Marathi, Malayalam, Punjabi and English)
Yajnaseni, 1984 ((Moorti Devi Award,1991 and Sarala Award, 1990. Tr. to English, Hindi, Marathi,A ssamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hungerian)
Dehatit, 1986
Uttarmarg, 1988. (Tr. to Hindi & Punjabi)
Adibhoomi (Tr. to Hindi & English)
Mahamoh, 1998 (To be published in Hindi, Bengali & Malayalam)
Magnamati, 2004
Travelogue
Maitri Padapara Shakha Prashakha (USSR), 1990
Dura Dwividha (UK, France), 1999
Aparadhira Sweda (Australia), 2000
Short Stories
SAMANYA KATHANA - 1978
GANGASHIULI 1979
ASAMAPTA 1980
AIKATANA 1981
ANABANA 1983
HATABAKSA 1983
GHASA O AKASHA
CHANDRABHAGA O CHADRAKALA 1984
Shrestha Galpa 1984
ABYAKTA (A tele-film has been made on the title story) 1986
ITIBUT 1987
HARITPATRA 1989
Prithak Ishwar 1991
BHAGABANARA DESHA 1991
MANUSHYA SWARA 1992
Swanirvachita Shrestha Galpa 1994
SASTHASATI 1996
MOKSHA (A feature film has been made on the title story and has got the best regional film award) 1996
ULLANGHANA (Sahitya Akademi Award,2000) 1998
NIVEDANAMIDAM 2000
GANDHINKA 2002
JHOTI PAKA KANTHA 2006
(with reference from en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pratibha_Ray)
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