Susmita Bagchi

{{Infobox writer

| name = Susmita Bagchi

| image =

| imagesize =

| caption =

| birth_name = Susmita Panda

| birth_date = {{birth date |df=yes|1960|09|25|}} {{cite book | last=Dutt | first=K.C. | author2=Sahitya Akademi | title=Who's who of Indian Writers, 1999: A-M | publisher=Sahitya Akademi | year=1999 | isbn=978-81-260-0873-5 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QA1V7sICaIwC&pg=PA83 | access-date=2020-04-01 | page=83}}

| birth_place = Cuttack, Orissa, India

| death_date =

| nationality = Indian

| occupation = Lecturer, writer, editor, bureaucrat

| period =

| notable_works = Children of a Better God
Akasha Jeunthi Katha

| spouse = Subroto Bagchi

| children =

| parents = Harihar Panda (father)
Sakuntala Panda (mother)

| awards = Odisha Sahitya Akademi Award
Prajatantra Award
Gangadhar Rath Foundation Award

| signature =

| signature_alt =

| years_active =

| module =

| website =

}}

Susmita Bagchi (née Panda) is an Indian writer who writes in Odia and English.{{cite web | title=Bāgcī, Susmitā 1960- [WorldCat.org] | website=WorldCat.org | url=https://www.worldcat.org/wcidentities/lccn-n89166072 | access-date=2020-04-01}}{{cite web | title=Susmita Bagchi | website=Penguin India | date=2020-04-01 | url=https://penguin.co.in/author/susmita-bagchi/ | access-date=2020-04-01}} She has published numerous books of novels short-stories and travelogues. She is the daughter of Sakuntala Panda, a prominent Odia writer and founder of Odia women's monthly Sucharita. She is best known for her short story collection Akasha Jeunthi Katha for which she won Odisha Sahitya Akademi Award in 1992.{{cite web | title=Odisha Sahitya Akademi | website=Odisha Sahitya Akademi | url=http://odishasahityaakademi.org/sahitya-award6.php | language=or | access-date=2020-04-01}} She is currently heading the Mo school programme.{{cite web | title=BJD-LD Appointment | website=Outlookindia | date=2019-08-16 | url=https://www.outlookindia.com/newsscroll/odbjdld-appointment-chg-slug/1598260 | access-date=2020-04-01}}

Personal life

She was born on 25 September 1960 at Cuttack. Her mother Sakuntala Panda was a prominent Odia writer. She did her education in Odisha before her post-graduation in political science and did a stint as a lecturer at Delhi University.{{cite web | last=Basu | first=Soma | title=The sway of her Pen | website=The Hindu | date=2015-08-13 | url=https://www.thehindu.com/features/metroplus/society/odia-writer-susmita-bagchi-on-her-first-english-novel/article10310908.ece | access-date=2020-04-01}} She met her future husband Subroto Bagchi when she was fifteen years old. They tied the knot 4 years later.

Career

She wrote her first short story for Sucharita 1982. Her first short story collection Akasha Jeunthi Katha was published in 1990.She followed up with Chhai Sepakhe Manisha. Her Odia novel "Deba Shishu" was about children living with cerebral palsy, It was published in 2006. It was translated into English and published by Penguin as "Children of a Better God" in 2010.{{cite book | last=Jain | first=G. | title=She Walks, She Leads: Women Who Inspire India | publisher=Penguin Books Limited | year=2016 | isbn=978-93-86057-70-9 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6tekDAAAQBAJ&pg=PT489 | access-date=2020-04-01 | page=489}} She was appointed to head the Mo school programme of Government of Odisha that aims at improving the government and government aided schools in the state.

Published works

{{cite book | last=Bagci | first=Susmita | title=Akasa yeumthi katha kahe | publisher=Grantha Mandira | year=1990 | oclc=22006546 | language=or }}
{{cite book | last=Bagci | first=Susmita | title=Chai se pakha manisha | publisher=Sucarita Pablikesansa | year=1991 | oclc=28114990 | language=or }}
{{cite book | last=Bagchi | first=Susmita | title=Mo Jharkaru Pruthibi | publisher=Sucarita Pub | year=1995 | language=or}}
{{cite book | last=Bagci | first=Susmita | title=Naibedya | publisher=Sucarita Pablikesansa | year=1996 | oclc=40869146 | language=or}}
{{cite book | last=Bagci | first=Susmita | title=Bhinna kula, anya dheu | publisher=Sucarita Pablikesansa | year=1997 | oclc=40869147 | language=or}}
{{cite book | last=Bagci | first=Susmita | title=Prabasara pakshi | publisher=Sucarita Pablikesansa | year=1998 | oclc=47630767 | language=or}}
{{cite book | last=Bagci | first=Susmita | title=Basudhara prasna | publisher=Sucarita Pablikesansa | year=1999 | oclc=47666693 | language=or}}
{{cite book | last=Bagci | first=Susmita | title=Srotaparnna | publisher=Sucarita Pablikesansa | year=2000 | oclc=47666721 | language=or}}
{{cite book | last=Bagci | first=Susmita | title=Svapna niharika | publisher=Sucarita Pabalikesansa | year=2003 | oclc=500150694 | language=or }}
{{cite book | last=Bagci | first=Susmita | title=Nila akasa, dhala megha | publisher=Sucarita Pabalikesans. | year=2003 | oclc=500172726 | language=or}}
{{cite book | last=Bagci | first=Susmita | title=Bimala darsana = Bimala darshan | year=2007 | oclc=903896880 | language=or}}
{{cite book | last1=Bagci | first1=Susmita | last2=Dasa | first2=Bikrama | title=Children of a better god | publisher=Penguin Books | year=2010 | isbn=978-0-14-306642-2 | oclc=778788237 }}
{{cite book | last=Bagci | first=Susmita | title=Sata tala pani = Saata taala paani | year=2012 | oclc=903873437 | language=or}}
{{cite book | last=Bagci | first=Susmita| title=Eka patha eka pathika | year=2013 | oclc=989811272 | language=or}}
{{cite book | last=Bagci | first=Susmita | title=Bidesini = Bideshini | year=2015 | oclc=960106712 | language=or}}
{{cite book | last=Bagci | first=Susmita | title=Asa pherijiba = Assa-pherijiba | year=2015 | oclc=960106711 | language=or}}
{{cite book |last=Bagchi |first=Susmita |title=Beneath a Rougher Sea |date=30 Sep 2016 |publisher=Leadstart Publishing Private Limited |isbn=978-9352016235 }}