Celebrated Odia writer Binapani Mohanty was conferred the Odisha Sahitya Akademi’s coveted Atibadi Jagannath Das Puraskar, the State’s highest honour for contribution to Odia literature, at her Cuttack residence on Saturday.
Incidentally, the award ceremony coincided with the 63rd foundation day celebration of the Akademi.
The award carrying a citation, cash prize of Rs 1 lakh and a shawl was presented by Tourism and Culture Minister Jyoti Prakash Panigrahi in the presence of Department of Culture Secretary Manoranjan Panigrahi, Director Bijay Kumar Nayak and Akademi secretary Suchismita Mantri.
Binapani Mohanty is the 27th winner of the award and the second woman writer to claim it after Basanta Kumari Patnaik. She was decorated with the Padma Shri award earlier this year.
Recipient of the State and Central Sahitya Akademi Awards in 1968 and 1990, respectively, Binapani, who retired as a Professor of Economics, has penned 30 published collection of short stories, three novels and translation of six literary works from Russian and English into Odia.
