Festival Director

Dr. Gayatribala Panda (b. 1977) is an eminent Odia poet, fiction writer, literary critic, columnist, academician and editor. Having authored 28 books, she received the Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award for her Odia poetry collection ‘Dayanadi’ (River Daya) in 2022. She had also been conferred with the first Kendra Sahitya Akademi ‘Yuva Pursaskar’ for her Odia poetry collection ‘Gaan’ (The Village) in 2011. Dr. Panda, who started to write at the very young age of six, won the State Youth Award for poetry in 1999-20. In 2012, Dr. Panda was named among the ten best young writers in the country by the English daily The Indian Express (Eye Magazine). She was invited for the ‘Writers-in-Residence’ program at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, New Delhi, in 2015. She has participated in more than 70 literary seminars, symposiums and festivals at the national and international level. Named in the list of Times Power Women-Odisha in 2021 and 2023, she was chosen as the ‘Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) Alumni of the Year Award’ in 2023. Continuing her literary journey, Dr. Panda has so far received more than 40 national and state level awards and felicitated by more than 50 organisations and institutions across the country.

At present, Dr. Panda is functioning as the Head of SOA Centre for Preservation, Propagation and Restoration of Ancient Culture and Heritage of India (PPRACHIN).