PEN IN BOOKS: Odisha’s leading state publishing brand PEN IN BOOKS, an imprint of Odia Media Private Limited, on the occasion of its 21st year, is organising the state’s first-ever writer-in-residence programme “Bashare Lekhaka” in July 2026. The workshop, aimed at nurturing new writers, will feature 10 young writers under the age of 25, PEN IN BOOKS informed in a press statement.
The week-long residential programme will be held on the shores of Chilika Lake. A total of 143 applications were received for participation; from these, 30 candidates were selected in the first round. The 30 were asked to write one chapter each of a novel, and from them a final 10 were chosen.
The 10 selected writers are Dharmaraj Mahamallik from Baragada district, Biswajit Sahoo from Dhenkanal district, Pritikrishna Sahoo from Kataka district, Surjit Pradhan from Jagatsinghpur, Sanjaya Roul from Jajpur, Badal Palei from Ganjam, Truptimayee Roul from Anugola, Subhashree Das from Kataka, Sasmita Behera from Bhadrak, and Jyoti Ranjan Das from Kendrapada district.
Renowned authors and storytellers Subhransu Panda and Miyog Patra are mentoring the programme. The theme for the current year is “Campus Novel.” Under the mentors’ guidance, the ten writers have spent the past three months at their respective residences working on a novel, completing the first draft. During the seven-day workshop their novels will be assessed and they will receive guidance on revision, editing, rewriting and restructuring. Each day of the workshop will feature senior and senior authors, fiction writers and critics as subject experts who will offer advice and teaching on the craft and techniques of novel writing to the young writers.
After the workshop the ten writers’ novels will be published in book form. In September of this year the books will be launched at a separate festival in Bhubaneswar and the ten young writers will also be honoured. The programme is completely free and fully funded, with travel, accommodation, book publishing and other incidental expenses, for the participating young writers, will be borne by Odia Media Private Limited.
