Dr Gayatribala Panda (b.1977) is a well-known Odia poet, fiction writer, literary critic and journalist. She has to her credit ten collections of poetry (two of which have been translated into Hindi, one into English), three novels and two collections of short stories. Her poems have been translated into many Indian languages including English and Hindi. She is the recipient of first Sahitya Akademi "Yuva Puraskar" in Odia for her poetry collection Gaan (The Village) in 2011, State Youth Award for poetry in 1999-2000, Rajiv Gandhi Sadbhavana Award for popular writer of the year 2011 and Utkal Sahitya Samaj Yuva Kabi Samman, etc. In 2012, she was named as one of the ten best young writers of the country by the English daily Indian Express (Eye Magazine). She was the "Writer in-residence" at the Rashtrapati Bhavan in 2015. Her poems and stories have been published in numerous journals and anthologies. She is the Editor of Anyaa, a widely-acclaimed Odia literary journal.