Winners of Gayatri Memorial Awards For Literary Excellence (2020) Ananda Mandir has announced the following winners of this year’s contest: Co-winners in the Bengali nominations category are Swapna Ray of Wayland, MA, and Subhankar Mukhopadhyay (Nashville,TN). The winner in the English nominations category is Debashis Roy Chowdhury of Campbell, CA. Each winner has received a cash award of $500 and a plaque with a citation. Congratulations to all the winners!
Swapna Ray
Swapna, a disciple of Suchitra Mitra, started Swaralipi Academy of Music in Wayland, MA, fifteen years ago to teach Rabindrasangeet to her pupils, of all ages. From music-teaching she picked up the pen to write poems and prose in Bangla. Her poems have appeared in many journals in India and in North America, particularly in venerable magazines like Krittibas, Parabaas, and Pratichi. She has also co-authored a book of verses, entitled Kobitara jokhon jhanke jhnake asey (Krittibas, 2012) with Rahul Ray. Swapna is also passionate about stage acting. She, along with Rahul founded ‘The Boston Group’, and staged numerous plays in North America and Canada. Swapna is a scientist and a teacher by profession.