Veteran novelist Pratibha Ray from Odisha has been appointed as the Chairperson of the Jnanpith Selection Board.
Ray is the first woman writer to receive the coveted National Moortidevi Award by Bharatiya Jnanpith for the year 1991 for her widely-acclaimed novel ‘Yajnaseni’. She was also conferred the Jnanpith Award, the country’s highest award for literature, for 2011. Besides, she achieved the rare feat in literature for novels including ‘Barsa Basanta Baishakha’, ‘Aranya’, ‘Nishidha Prithivi’, ‘Parichaya, ‘Aparichita, ‘Punyatoya’, ‘Meghamedura’, ‘Ashabari’, ‘Ayamarambha’, ‘Nilatrishna’, ‘Samudrara Swara’, ‘Shilapadma’, ‘Dehatit’ and ‘Uttarmarg’.