Dawn after the Long Night

With a vision that transcends the normal and a value system nurtured by his love for both tradition and modernity, Gourahari has been able to see and comprehend the nature of conflict and complexities of a society in transition. He has keen eyes of observation and the sensibility of an enviable creative writer. – Ruskin Bond, Ivy Cottage, Landour Cantt., Mussoorie

With its feminist perspective, this novel has its thrust on the marginalization of women, her bold confrontation with hostile forces, an assertion of personal freedom, and her triumph over oppressive

male-oriented societal practices and prejudices. This is the story of a woman’s crusade for her emancipation from the same biases, injustice, and tyranny. – Prof. J.N. Patnaik, Professor of English and Eminent Critique

The Dawn After the Long Night is a revolutionary and path-breaking creation in Odia literature. Every chapter of it creates a yearning in the mind of the reader. – Prof. Bhagabat Behera, Poet and Critique

The writer, Gourahari Das, can be called a traveller. His journeys, both figurative and actual, both inward and outward, have made a writer of him. Born in 1960, in a back-of-the -beyond Indian village, Sandhagara near river Mantei he has come a long way. Real-life experiences acquired while growing up in an impoverished monastery sharpened his skills as a writer and endowed him with a sensibility laced with compassion and humour, which gives his creative being its distinctive character. His first book, Juara Bhatta (High Tide, Low tide), a short story collection, was published when he was only 21 years old. He has now as many as 70 books to his credit, which include novels, short-story collections, vignettes, travelogues, plays and essays. Gourahari has visited many countries across continents and leads a life full of activities. Many of his works have been translated into English, which include The Little Monk and Other Stories, The Nail and Other Stories, Koraput and Other Stories and The Shades of Life. He has received several awards such as Sahitya Akademi ( India’s national Akademi of letters) Award, Odisha Sahitya Akademi Award, Sangeet Natak Akademi Prize. He was also Senior Fellow of the Ministry of Culture of India and a Writer in Residency of Sahitya Akademi. Gourahari lives in Bhubaneswar, India.

Tapan K Panda is a well-known management academic and creative writer. He has published more than 20 books on various disciplines of management. His literary work in English includes Naxalite & Other Stories (short story collection); As the Years Go By (anthology of poems); Kabita Pari Kichhi Kicchi & Lal Swapna (Odiya poetry collection). He has translated many Odia short stories into English and published in leading magazines of India. His translation work includes Don’t Wash Your Wound with Blood (Selected poems of Rumi), The Infidel; The Arch of Fire, The Actor and From 1907… Autobiography of Queen Ratnaprava Devi.