Rourkela: Award-winning author Ramendra Kumar, who is also SAIL's chief of communications at Rourkela Steel Plant, has been invited to chair a session at the 36th International Board on Books for Young People Congress (IBBY) to be held in Athens from August 30 to September 1.

He will be chairing the session in which three internationally-acclaimed speakers from three different continents (North America, Europe and Asia), will be presenting papers.

"I am from a country where stories are as old as life itself. It will be my privilege to chair a session that has three speakers who together map the globe. And we are all meeting in a country that is a bridge between the ancient and the modern civilisation, the East and the West," said Kumar, who is interested about children's writing and has penned books on the Jagannath culture.

Ramendra has 33 books to his credit. His writings have been translated into 28 languages - both Indian and foreign. He has won 31 awards in the competition for writers of children's literature organised by Children's Book Trust, over the years.

Six of his books have been recommended by CBSE, India, as supplementary readers and 11 of his stories have found place in text books.

Besides, he is an inspirational speaker and storyteller. Kumar has been invited to participate in several festivals, including Jaipur Litfest and Bookaroo as well as seminars organised by Sahitya Akademi, Ignou and NBT, among others.

He would also be presenting a paper on the theme "The Brave New World of Indian Children's Literature."

The Congress, which is expected to attract at least 450 delegates from 70 or more countries, is considered the biggest biennial event focussing on children's literature. He is an engineer and an MBA with a gold medal in marketing.

Woman suicide

A 30-year-old married woman allegedly committed suicide by hanging herself on Monday in the Kendrapara district, police said.

The deceased has been identified as Kalyani Jena of Narasinghpur village in Sadar police station limits.

Police have registered an unnatural death case and started investigation.