Pratibha Ray is an acclaimed Indian academic and writer. She was born on 21 January 1943, at Alabol, a remote village in the Balikuda area of Jagatsinghpur district formerly part of Cuttack district of Odisha state. She was the first woman to win the Moortidevi Award in 1991 and awarded Jnanapith Award in 2011. Yagynaseni, her most popular novel, is considered as the modern classic in Indian language.