Bhubaneswar, June 30: Young writer Sujit Kumar Panda has made the state proud as he has been selected for the Central Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar for his short story collection Manasankha.

The book has seven stories based on his experiences. "There are many things that catches my attention every day. My stories speak about life, love and the society," said the writer.

"One should embrace everything, whether good or bad, with an open heart. Whatever one writes should reflect one's own experience," said Panda.

The 35-year-old author of Hental (2003) and Pharua (2007) said the honour would only push him to write better.

"I am extremely happy. Receiving the award at such an early stage of my career will motivate me to continue writing," said Panda.

Panda began writing at the age of 10. "My grandparents have been my biggest inspiration. They were great storytellers, and I used to listen to them with rapt attention. Tales of legends fascinated me a lot, and I used to write small stories based on them. That is how my tryst with writing began and is still continuing," said Panda.

Speaking about the present set of young writers, Panda said: "There is a spark in them, but they should make sure that they write well-researched stories and maintain a certain level of transparency. Stories inspired from real life are very appealing," said the writer.

Hailing from Angul district, Panda said technology should be used properly to widen the reach of Odia language. "We need to make the use of web-based fonts, so that more people can have access to Odia writings on the Internet. I also feel that we should conduct more meets between readers and writers, so that the connection strengthens," said Panda.

Panda's next short story collection is ready for publish, and he is at present working on a novel. "I have been researching for the novel for the past two years and am hopeful that it would be finished in another year," said Panda, who also works as a development consultant at a private company.