Pratibha Ray is an Indian academic and writer. Her search for a "social order based on equality, love, peace and integration", continues, since she first penned at the age of nine. She wrote for a social order, based on equality without class, caste, religion or sex discriminations which are so common in India.

She was formerly a professor in Education and former member of Odisha Public Service Commission. She is one of the leading fiction writers in India writing in her mother tongue Odia. She has several novels, travelogues, short story, poetry and essay collections to her credit. She is the recipient of the Jnanpith Award for her contribution to Indian literature, the Moorti Devi Award, the Sahitya Akademi Award and the Padma Shri given by the Government of India.