Sitakant Mahapatra

Sitakant Mahapatra (born 17 September 1937) is an eminent Indian poet and literary critic in Odia as well as English. He was in the Indian Administrative Service (IAS) since 1961 until retiring in 1995, and has held ex officio posts such as the Chairman of National Book Trust, New Delhi since then.

He has published over 15 poetry collection, 5 essay collections, a travelogue, over 30 contemplative works, apart from numerous translations. His poetry collection has been published in several Indian languages. His notable works are, Sabdar Akash (1971) (The Sky of Words), Samudra (1977) and Anek Sharat (1981).

He was awarded the 1974 Sahitya Akademi Award in Odia for his poetry collection, Sabdara Akasha (The Sky of Words). He was awarded the Jnanpith Award in 1993 "for outstanding contribution to Indian literature" and in its citation the Bharatiya Jnanpith noted, "Deeply steeped in western literature his pen has the rare rapturous fragrance of native soil"; he was also awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2002 and Padma Vibhushan in 2011 for literature apart from winning the Soviet Land Nehru Award, Kabeer Samman and several other prestigious awards.

Awards and recognition
Orissa Sahitya Academy Award - 1971 and 1984
Sahitya Akademi Award - 1974
Sarala Award - 1985
Jnanpith Award, India's highest literary honour - 1993
Padma Bhushan (the third highest civilian award of India)- 2003
Padma Vibhushan (the second highest civilian award of India) - 2010
Sahitya Akademi Fellow - 2013
SAARC Literary Award - 2015
Tagore Peace Award - 2017
Bibliography
Quiet violence. Writers Workshop, Kolkatta 1970. ISBN 0-89253-605-5.
The Empty distance carries ...: Oraon & Mundari tribal songs transcreated, with an introduction by Edward Tuite Dalton. Writers Workshop, Kolkata 1972.
The other silence, Writers Workshop, Kolkata 1973.
The Wooden Sword, Utkala Sahitya Bikash, 1973.
Old man in Summer and other poems, United Writers, 1975.
Staying is nowhere: an anthology of Kondh and Paraja poetry, Ind-U. S. Incorporated, 1976.