Gayatri Gamarsh Memorial Awards - 2021

Winners of 2021 Gayatri Memorial Awards for Literary Excellence

Ananda Mandir has announced the winners of the 2021 Gayatri Memorial Awards contest.

The co-winners in the English nominations category are Sophia Mitra (Edison, NJ) and Rahul Ray (Wayland, MA). The winner in the Bengali nominations category is Susmita Kundu (Pewaukee, WI).

Each winner has received a cash award of $500 and a plaque with an appropriate citation.

Congratulations to all the winners!

Sophia Mitra As a professor, Sophia teaches English literature and composition classes at a NJ college and conducts creative writing workshops for elementary to high school students. As an academic, she publishes regularly in research journals, but creative writing in all forms is her true passion. She has published in many magazines and maintains a blog, English 101, where she muses about topics related to societal change. She enjoys writing for children as she is a mother of two kids, aged 12 and 15.

Rahul Ray Rahul Ray has written numerous essays, poems and short stories (of many types) and has published in many magazines in India and America (such as Desh, Krittibas and Nabakallol in India and UTSAB, Aamra, Parabas and Anandalipi in America). Rahul writes in English as well as in Bengali and has authored or coauthored three books and one anthology of essays. Although a scientist by profession, Rahul received training in art and classical Western music and is a musician by choice. He is an active member of several writer groups. He received a Gayatri Memorial Award in 2015 in the Bengali nominations category.

Susmita Kundu Susmita spent her childhood years in Howrah, West Bengal. A physicist by training, Susmita received her doctorate from the Saha Institute of Nuclear Physics, Kolkata. She currently lives in Wisconsin, with her husband and a six-year-old child. Always interested in reading and writing, her passion took a turn after she became a mother, and she began to focus on creating imaginative stories appropriate for young children. She has, however, continued to write fiction for adult readers. She is the author of two books and many short stories.