Bhubaneswar: India's national academy of letters, the Sahitya Akademi, today announced the names of 21 winners of its Bal Sahitya Puraskar and 21 recipients of the Yuva Puraskar for this year. Two writers from Odisha have been selected for the prestigious awards.

While Birendra Mohanty will receive the Sahitya Akademi Bal Sahitya Puraskar for his collection of poems 'Rumku Jhuma', Jayadratha Suna will be conferred with the Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar for his poetry book 'Soso'.

The Bal Sahitya Puraskar awards will be conferred at a function on November 14, which is celebrated as Children's Day, being the birth anniversary of India's first Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. The date for conferring the Yuva Puraskar awards has not been declared yet.

The awards comprise a casket containing an engraved copper-plaque and a cheque of Rs 50,000.