"I grew up reading great literature created by our past writers. They shaped me, my understanding of situations and my writings," Ray, a professor by profession and writer by passion, said.
Ray said, "I am a humanist. I felt the agony of the people before giving shape to them in my writing."
Asked to identify her best piece among her novels, Ray said "I love all my creations. But, to make it specific, I can say Magnamati, a book written on the miseries of the calamity affected people, had pained me a lot."
She described Odisha's first Jnanpith awardee (1973) Gopinath Mohanty as her favourite among Odia novelists.
Ray said besides Odia, she read novels in Hindi, Bengali, Assamese, English and Spanish.
"I adore many writers. Hindi is like my second mother tongue," she said.
"I am happy that a Odia writer has been chosen for the Jnanpith award after a long gap. The last Odia to get the award was Sitakant Mohapatra," she said.
Pratibha Ray is the first Odia woman and fourth Odia writer to get the coveted award.
Earlier Gopinath Mohanty (1973), Sachidananda Routray (1986) and Sitakant Mohapatra (1993) were conferred the honour. (MORE)
