When Ravens Speak and Horses Fly: Odia folktales in this book have been retold by Mona Lisa Jena, author, poet and translator. They have been chosen for their diverse cultural significance. Odisha is an ancient civilization. Oral literature flourished in the form of folk literature, by women, sowing the seeds of a literary tradition of individualism. Folk elements lived and continue to live in villages, which are yet to undergo urbanization. The more inaccessible and unaffected the land, the stronger its folk elements. Odia folktales revolved around seafarers, kings and princes, princesses and village idylls, and yet-to-be explored tribal tales. The tribals wove stories about the creation of the world, gods, and totems like how the sun and moon came into being, and how the tallest hill in the village was the tutelary deity with the most power. Rural tales included trees, animals and birds, with the addition of magic, witchcraft and ghosts. All these makes the folktales irresistible.
Mona Lisa Jena was born in Odisha in 1963. She is the author of many books in various genres, including two collections of short stories, three books of poems and several volumes of translations. She has, to her credit, three collections of poems in Odia; Nisarga Dhwani, Ai Sabu Dhruba Muhurta and Nakshtra Devi. Her short stories are collected in Indramalatira Shoka, Nilamadhabi, Kula Nathiba Nai and a novel Nargis. Ms. Jena also wrote a biography of the noted Odia poet Ramakanta Rath besides translating and editing Dasuram's Script, a collection of contemporary orary Odia stories published by Harper Collins. She has translated poetry and fiction from Assamese into Odia and from Odia into English. She is the recipient of Sahitya Akademi Prize for Translation.
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