And the Wretched

Born in 1955 at Aradasahi village, Bagada Panchayat of Kendrapada district, Odisha, Prof. (Dr.) Narayan Sahoo is a successful playwright, scriptwriter, and critic. Before he retired from Utkal University as a professor, he worked as an Emeritus Professor there for two years. Subsequently, he also received a Senior Fellowship from the Ministry of Culture for theatre for two years. He received an award from Odisha Sahitya Akademi for his outstanding play Ashra Khoji Buluthiba Ishwara (Bewildered God) in 1991 and Odisha Sangeet Natak Akademi for 2014. To his credit, he has written over forty plays and fifty ‘One-Act-based’ plays. He has written six collections of Odia plays for children (Infant Play). Some of his notable and widely-discussed dramas are Ashra Khoji Buluthiba Ishwara, O Saba Sesha Loka, Punascha Sangram, Muuka, Aparahnar Abasosa, Anagata, Sesha Katha, Chhata, Upasana, Kranti, Nishidha Samlapa, Adhadekha Swapna, Prayaschitta, Dura Akashara Tara, Prashna, December 25 etc. The play Rajarani Upakhyana is based on the lifestyles and issues of ‘Third Gender’. He is active in radio, television, theatre, and cinema. The play Chhata is very realistic and deals with the lifestyle of the contemporary world and how they are struggling during the epidemic of Carona in 2019. Through these plays, he tries his best to hint at and point out the endless hopes and apprehensions of the modern man. He hopes the book will reach a larger audience within a short period.

Born in Kendrapada district of Odisha, Sanjeet Kumar Das is a poet, a translator, and an educationist. His poetry collection Asima Jeevan was published in 2021. His translation works include Dr. Narayan Sahoo’s And the Wretched and Bewildered God, Dr. Niladri Bhusan Harichandan’s Satya Samshaya Salabega and Columbus, Dr. Bijay Mishra’s play Tata Niranjana and Dr. Ratnakar Chaini’s play Athacha Chanakya. Currently he works as an Assistant Professor at Department of English Language and Literature, Central University of Odisha, Koraput.