Writer Mahasweta Sahu has been nominated to receive the 16th 'Timepass Booker Puraskar.' Mahasweta Sahu will receive the award this year for her short story manuscript, 'Octopusra Atma'. The award, which is granted annually to Odia fiction writers below 45 years, will be presented during a literary festival, and the winning manuscript will be turned into a book.
Additionally, this year's nominees for the "Timepass Bestseller Puraskar," which is awarded to the book chosen by readers as their favorite, are Kshirod Parida's "Nobel Bijayi Kathakarnka Atmakathan" in the feature category; Biyot Projna Tripathy's "Srestha Galpa" in the short-story category; Krushna Kumar Mohanty's "Ruby Roy" in the poetry category; and Debabrat Das' "Tha" in the fiction category. Saral Kumar Das will be the recipient of this year's "Timepass Bahibandhu Samman," for his selfless work to promote Odia literature and books.
Timepass has arranged the fourth edition of the 'Utsahitya' event on December 24 to felicitate all of the honorees. This full-day program will feature numerous well-known and up-and-coming writers from Odisha, including well-known Bengali writer Jayanta Dey.
Saroj Bal, the director of the publication, stated in a press release that events will include discussions, a poetry catwalk, musical cocktails, film screenings, writer gossip, poetry and picture duets, book launches, interviews, and Q&A sessions on a range of literary topics.