Jagannath Prasad Das

Jagannath Prasad Das was born on 26 April 1936 in Achyutarajpur Sasan village, in the Undivided Puri district of Odisha, into a humble Karan family. He was the third child of renowned author, educationist and translator Sridhar Das and Indu Devi. He studied at Mission School, Cuttack, and Ravenshaw College, and later earned a Master's degree in Political Science from Allahabad University, where he taught for a brief period.

He began his professional career as an Assistant Professor at the University of Allahabad before joining the Indian Administrative Service (IAS). He joined Administrative Service in 1958, during his administrative career, he held several positions in both the Government of Odisha and the Government of India. After taking premature retirement from government service in 1984, he settled in Delhi, where he remained actively involved in the city's cultural and social life.

Jagannath Das passed away on 3 June 2026 at the age of 90.^[1]

Besides translating some of his own work in Odia into English, he also translated other works in different languages into both Odia and English. He translated Odia Women Poets’ Work into English (with Arlene Zide), Catherine Clement’s poems from French into English (with the poet), Gulzar’s poems from Urdu into English, Swedish poet Werner Aspenstrom’s poems into Odia, a medieval Odia text Lakshmipurana into English and the poetry of Odia Dalit poet Basudev Sunani into English.^{[citation needed]}

He edited the first-ever anthology of Odia Short Stories in English translation.^{[citation needed]} He has edited an anthology of poetry from different Indian languages (with K.Satchidanandan), and a volume of essays, Films for Children.^{[citation needed]}

Das was awarded the following Fellowships for research and creative writing:

• Homi Bhabha Fellow (1979–1981) for research on Pata Paintings of Odisha
• Emeritus Fellow of the Ministry of Culture, Government of India (1994–1996)
• K. K. Birla Foundation Fellowship in Comparative Literature (1996–1998)

• Vishuva Award from Pajatantra Prachar Samiti – 1976 and 1984
• Odisha Sahitya Akademi Award – 1975 (for Je Jahara Nirjanata)
• Sahitya Akademi Award – 1990 (for Ahnika). He did not accept the award.
• Sarala Award – 1998 (for Priya Vidushaka)
• Nandikar Playwright Award – 2000
• Saraswati Samman – 2006 (for Parikrama)

• First Person – Tr: Deba Patnaik, Arnold-Heinemann, 1976
• Love is a Season – Tr: Poet, Arnold-Heinemann, 1978
• Timescapes – Tr: Poet, Arnold-Heinemann, 1980
• Silences – Tr: Poet, Vikas, 1989
• Diurnal Rites – Tr: H. Panda, Sahitya Akademi, 1994
• The Unreal City – Tr: Durga P. Panda, Har Anand, 1997
• Lovelines – Tr: Poet with Paul St-Pierre, Virgo, 2001
• Alimalika – Tr: Poet, Writers Workshop, 2004
• Dark Times – Tr: Poet with Paul St-Pierre, Virgo, 2004
• Poems – Tr: Poet, Grassroots, 2004
• Nanasense – Tr: Sumanyu Satpathy, NBT, 2013

• Words on Canvas: J.P.Das and His Work – ed. Ganeswar Mishra (Orissa Lalit Kala Akademi, 2005)
• Srijan Jatra (Odia) – by Ganeswar Mishra (Vidyapuri, Cuttack, 2010)
• Priya JP (Odia) – ed. Sumanyu Satpathy (Shiksha Sandhan, Bhubaneswar, 2011)
• Jagannath Prasad: Bandhutara Aasara (Odia) – ed. Ganeswar Mishra (Timepass, Bhubaneswar, 2013)
• Bahudha (Odia) – by Sumanyu Satpathy, 2014
• "Bharatiyatara Anweshi JAGANNATH PRASAD DAS" (Odia) – Translated and Edited by Dr Rabinarayan Moharana (Lark Books, Bhubaneswar, 2014)
• "Mukhashala" (Odia) – Compiled and Translated by Dr Rabinarayan Moharana (Ink Odisha, Bhubaneswar, 2015)
• "JP JIBANEE" (Odia) – A biography of Dr Jagannath Prasad Das. The book is written by Dr Rabinarayan Moharana and has been published under the auspices of Utkal Sahitya Samaj, Cuttack and by M/s Jagannath Rath, Binod Bihari, Cuttack (Odisha). First Edition : 2019.
• "Jane JP Aneka Jeebana" (Odia)- A biography of JP, a multifaced literary person of Odisha. This book is written by Dr Rabinarayan Moharana and has been published by Pakshighara Prakashanee, Bhubaneswar. First Edition : 2021