Odia Books

Natabara Samantray was born in 1918,He was a leading critic and researcher, was born at Delanga in the district of Puri in a lower middle class family of peasants. Financial difficulties stood in the way of his higher education, and he wandered from place to place in search of a job and opportunity for studies. Finally, he did his B.A. and B.Ed. privately, and later his M.A. in Odia while working as a school teacher. His pursuit of research and scholarship eventually brought him a lectureship in Odia literature.

Samantray worked on an unexplored period of Odia literature and wrote a highly commendable thesis,
Odia sahityara itihas 1803-1920 for his doctoral degree.The research is based on his study of old and rare periodicals, government records, and many obsolete documents. Recognition of his merit as a first rate critic, capable of doing original research, came from diverse directions – literary magazines like Dagara and Jhankar, literary meets like ‘Visuba Milan’, and the Orissa Sahitya Academy which gave him an award on his book Odia sahityakar Artaballabhanka dana.

Samantray is a critic and an essayist of a high order, and is considered an authority on modern Odia
literature. Significantly, he has made valuable contribution to the interpretation of ancient and medieval poetry also. The special features of his writing are originality, scientific analysis, wide references, and a desire to discover the truth.

Some of his most significant publications are Vyasakavi Fakir Mohan (1957), Adhunika Odia sahityar
digdarshana (1959), Odia Vaisnaba sahitya (1959), Chilika kavya (1960), Galpa nuhen samalochana (1963), Adhunika Odia sahityar bhittibhumi (1964), Odia sahityar itihas (1964), Sakhahina panchasakha
(1975), Odia sahityara swarare paribartana (1976) and Odia sahityare samikshya-o-samgraha.
BIBLIOGRAPHY : K.C. Bhuyan, Odia lekhaka paricharya (1968); Natabara Samantray, Mu keepari gabeshana kali; Sahitya samachar (July, 1963).

Vyasakavi Fakir Mohan
Adhunika Odia Sahityar Digdarshana
Odia Vaisnaba Sahitya
Chilika Kavya
Galpa Nuhen Samalochana
Odia Sahityar Itihas
Sakhahina Panchasakha