Anita Agnihotri


Anita Agnihotri is an Indian Bengali writer and poet. Her works have been translated into several major Indian and foreign languages, including English, Swedish and German.

Early life and career

Anita Agnihotri was born and spent her childhood in Kolkata. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in economics at Presidency College in Kolkata, and graduated with a master's in economics from Calcutta University.
She was selected for the Indian Administrative Service in 1980 to the Odisha cadre. She went on to have a 37-year career in the civil service. As an IAS, she was Collector of Sundargarh district of Odisha and was Principal Secretary in Departments of Textiles and Industries. In 1991, she took a sabbatical from IAS and completed master's in development economics from the University of East Anglia.
At the centre, she was a Joint Director General in Directorate General of Foreign Trade between 1996 and 2001, and then Development Commissioner of SEEPZ, Mumbai in 2008–2011 at the rank of Joint Secretary. She was also the member secretary of the National Commission for Women. She retired in 2016 as Secretary, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Government of India.

Writing

Anita commenced writing at an early age. The writer Bimal Kar encouraged her to pursue a literary career. As a school student, she used to write for renowned filmmaker Satyajit Ray's children's magazine Sandesh, something that gave her confidence and also shaped her literary sensibilities. Her writing has been compared with that of noted Bengali writer Mahasweta Devi.
In 1991, on a sabbatical from the IAS to pursue a course on rural development in UK's Anglia Ruskin University, she wrote the novella 'Mahuldiha Days capturing the incidents that she had encountered as an administrator in Odisha's Mahuldiha.
In 2015, Anita's book Mahanadi was published. The eponymous book is written with the river Mahanadi in the first person. It tells the story of a river that flows through some of the least developed regions of Chhattisgarh and Odisha, and the profound influence of the river on the regions society, culture and economics.
In 2021, Niyogi Books published the English translation of Mahanadi under the imprint Thornbird.

Awards and recognition

Poetry collections

  • Chandan Gaachh
  • Brishti Asbe
  • Snajowa Bahini Jay
  • Nirbachita Kabita
  • Braille
  • Kritanjali Megh
  • Kabita Samagra
  • MalimHarbour
  • Ayna Matrisama
  • Shreshtha Kabita

Novels

  • Mahuldihar Din
  • Jara Bhalobesechhilo
  • Akalbodhan
  • Alik Jiban
  • Sukhabasi
  • Aynay Manush Nai
  • Mahanadi
  • Upanyas Samagra
  • Kaste
  • Mahakantar
  • Labanakta
  • Aynay Manush Nai

Collections of short stories

  • Chandan Rekha
  • Pratikshan Galpa Sankalan
  • Tarani
  • Atal Sparsha
  • Shrestha Galpa
  • Panchashti Galpa
  • Dashti Galpa
  • Bhalobasar Galpa
  • Sera Panchashti Galpa
  • Panchashti Galpa
  • Palasher Ayu

Children's and juvenile literature

  • Akim O Porikonye
  • Akim O Dwiper Manush, Akim Niruddesh, Ratan Master er Pathshala, Bandi Rajkumar
  • Joyramer Sinduk
  • Ebu Gogo
  • Chhotoder Galpa Samagra
  • Chhotoder Galpamela
  • Gachhera Gelo Berate

Essay collections / non-fictions

  • Kolkatar Pratima Shilpira
  • Unnayan O Prantik Manush
  • Desher Bhitor Desh
  • Ei Andhare Ke Jage
  • Rod Bataser Path
  • Amar Pratibader Bhasha
  • Likhte Likhte Athoi Door Involuntary Displacement in Dam Projects edited by A.B. Ota & Anita Agnihotri; foreword by Michael Cernea. Prachi Prakashan, 1996.

Translated books

  • Those who had known love
  • Forest Interludes
  • Dagar I Mahuldiha
  • The Awakening
  • Sabotage
  • Seventeen
  • Mahuldiha Days
  • A Day in the life of Mangal Taram
  • The Sickle
  • Mahanadi
  • Mahanadi