Nuapada is a city in western region of Odisha state of eastern India. It is the headquarters of Nuapada district. Nuapada district was carved out of the undivided Kalahandi district on 27 March 1993. It is on the western border of Odisha with Chhattisgarh. The district is part of Odisha both linguistically and culturally.
Jagadish Mohanty was a renowned Odia writer, considered as a trendsetter in modern Odia fiction, has received the prestigious Sarala Award in 2003, Odisha Sahitya Akademi Award in 1990 for his novel Kanishka Kanishka, Dharitri Award in 1985, Jhankar Award, Prajatantra Award. Born in Gorumahisani, an iron-ore mines in northern periphery in Mayurbhanj district of Odisha, he spent more than 30 years of his life working in the Mahanadi Coalfields Limited(MCL) in western periphery of Odisha. Though he kept himself away from the cultural capital of Odisha, but still his writings highlighted him in the mainstream of Odia literature and culture.
Gopinath Mohanty (1914–1991), winner of the Jnanpith award, and the first winner of the National Sahitya Akademi Award in 1955 - for his novel, Amrutara Santana - was a prolific Odia writer of the mid-twentieth century. Satya Prakash Mohanty, Professor of English, Cornell University says: "In my opinion, Gopinath Mohanty is the most important Indian novelist in the second half of the twentieth century."
Nityananda Mahapatra was an Indian Odia politician, poet and journalist.
Vannadasan, aka Kalyanji is a Tamil writer from India. He was born as Siva Kalyana Sundaram in Tirunelveli in 1946, where he currently resides.. He is a son of Thi. Ka. Sivasankaran, a renowned Tamil writer. He writes short stories and non fiction articles under the pseudonym of Vannadhasan and poems under Kalyanji. He won the Sahitya Akademi Award for Tamil in 2016 for his short story collection Oru Siru Isai. He is also a recipient of Vishnupuram Literary Award, which he also won in 2016.
He is a retired bank employee.
Surendra Mohanty born in Odisha was an author who wrote in Oriya. He was the recipient of the Central Sahitya Academy Award for his novel Nilashaila.
Puthussery Ramachandran Pillai is an Indian poet of the Malayalam language. He is a scholar of Dravidian linguistics and has been a professor of Malayalam for more than three decades.
Binod Kanungo is a renowned Odia author, freedom fighter, Gandhian, educator, social reformer and celebrated compiler of the Gyana Mandala, which is the greatest encyclopaedia in the Odia language. He also won the Odisha Sahitya Akademi Award for his travelogue Runa Parishodha (1983). He was also a veteran freedom fighter and notable educationist. He was awarded with India's fourth highest civilian honour "Padmashree". He died on 22 June 1990.
Satyanarayana Rajguru was an Indian litterateur, epigraphist and historian. He was a curator and epigraphist at the Odisha State Museum and was a recipient of Sahitya Akademi Award, Bharati Bhushan award, Ganjam Sahitya Sammilani award, Odisha Sahitya Academy Award and Sarala Sanman. The Government of India awarded him the fourth highest Indian civilian award of Padma Shri in 1974.
Mohapatra Nilamani Sahoo, surname also spelt Sahu, was an Indian Odia language short story writer. He received several literary awards over his career, including the 1979 Odisha Sahitya Academy Award for Akasha Patala, and the 1983 Sarala Award and the 1984 Sahitya Akademi Award in Odia, for Abhisapta Gandharba. Sahoo died on 25 June 2016 after multiple organ failures.
Bijay Mishra born 16 July 1936) is a Dramatist, lyricist and screenwriter from India. He is also a mainstream script writer in Odia Cinema & TV Industry. He is a recipient of the State Sahitya Academy Award, Konark Samman (1994) as well as the Kendra Sangeet Natak Akademi Award and the Odisha Sahitya Akademi Award.
Arjun Charan Hembram is an Indian writer of Santali language and banker from Odisha. He won Sahitya Akademi Award in 2012.
Rabindranath Murmu is an Indian Santali language writer from Jharkhand. He won Sahitya Akademi Award for Santali Translation in 2012.
Tala Tudu is an Indian writer of Santali language and nurse from Jharkhand. She won Sahitya Akademi Award for Santali Translation in 2015.
Maina Tudu is an Indian writer of Santali language and housewife from Odisha. She won Yuva Puraskar in 2017.
