Author · Poet · Storyteller
Kanan Mishra (September 13, 1944 – March 8, 2015) was an acclaimed Odia author who wrote seventeen books — spanning poetry, children's verse, short stories, essays, and biography — as well as two scholarly works. She received the Odisha Sahitya Akademi Award for her translated book Suryamukhi ra Swapna. Her writing weaves together the intimate and the universal, drawing from family, memory, and the rich cultural landscape of Odisha.
Explore Her Work
Kanan Mishra (କାନନ ମିଶ୍ର), née Tripathy (September 13, 1944 – March 8, 2015), was born in the Cuttack district of Odisha, one of eight children in a family that valued education deeply. Her father, Dr. Kunja Behari Tripathy, was a distinguished professor of philology at Ravenshaw University — a scholar who had received his PhD from the School of Oriental & African Studies, University of London, and whose thesis became the landmark book Evolution of the Oriya Language & Script. Drawn early to reading and writing, Kanan studied at Ravenshaw and earned an M.A. (English), M.A. (Oriya), and M.Litt. (Comparative Literature).
In 1964, she married Benoy Kumar Mishra, an officer in the Indian Police Service. His postings took the family across India — to Assam, Mizoram, and Delhi — before they eventually returned to Odisha, where she devoted herself fully to writing.
A prolific author of seventeen books and two scholarly works, her writing spans an extraordinary range — from children's poetry that has delighted young readers across Odisha, to deeply personal essays, short stories that illuminate ordinary lives with extraordinary tenderness. Her English collection, A Tryst with Life, offers intimate glimpses into the people and moments that shaped her — her father's quiet dignity, her mother's resilience, the teachers who lit a flame, and the small-town rhythms of an Odisha childhood.
She became an especially prolific writer after returning to Odisha, and was honored with the Odisha Sahitya Akademi Award for her translated book Suryamukhi ra Swapna. Her last book, Rekhakunja — a biography of her father — was written even as she battled cancer, a final act of devotion to the man who had shaped her love of language.
A conversation with Kanan Mishra about her life and her writing. From OTV.
"Piaji" was first published in 2001 in her short story collection Adhalekha Dastabij. Video by Ambikesh Rout (@GalpaDunia on YouTube).
A collection of links about Kanan Mishra and her family's literary heritage from around the web.
From Jibanatirthare Odishara Lekhika (Athena Books, Bhubaneswar). A scholarly analysis of her literary works. In Odia.
A personal remembrance published in Chira Samartha magazine, Sharadiya (autumn) special edition, 2015. In Odia.
Encyclopedia entry on her life and works. (Note: some details may be inaccurate)
Structured data entry with identifiers and linked records.
Comprehensive list of Odia story writers, poets, and critics.
Official list of Sahitya Academy awarded books and writers, from the Odisha Reference Annual.
Punya Mishra reflects on dedicating a talk at Ravenshaw University to the two people most instrumental in his becoming an academic.
On the parallels between Satyajit Ray's Aparajito and his mother's essay "My First Student" — a meditation on the pure joy of learning.
Full text of his landmark 1962 work, based on his PhD thesis at SOAS, University of London. Published by Utkal University, Cuttack.
Scholarly review published in 1964 by Cambridge University Press.
Structured data entry with authority identifiers (VIAF, Library of Congress, and more).
His later book published by the Orissa Sahitya Akademi (2001).
If you have memories, photographs, or stories about Kanan Mishra that you'd like to share, or if you have questions about her work, please get in touch.
