Banira Giri (11 April 1946–24 May 2021) was a Nepalese poet and novelist, best known for her novels such as Karagar, Nirbandha and her poetry collections such as Jiwan: Thayamaru, Euta Jiundo Jung Bahadur, etc. In 1999, she received the Sajha Puraskar for her novel, Shabdatit Shantanu, becoming the first woman to win the prize. She became the first woman to be awarded a Ph.D. by Tribhuvan University for her thesis on the poetry of Gopal Prasad Rimal in 1985. Early life and education Giri was born on 11 April 1946 (29 Chaitra 2002 BS) in Kurseong, India. She studied in Darjeeling where she obtained an I.Sc. degree. Her future husband Shankar Giri had first seen her while she was studying in Darjeeling. She received her bachelor's degree from North Bengal University. She traveled to Kathmandu in 1965 (2022 BS) for an award ceremony. A poetry competition was organized by the Royal Nepal Academy. She participated in the competition and stood second. The medals of the competition were distributed by the King Mahendra. While receiving the prize, she expressed her interest in pursuing an MA in Nepali literature from Tribhuvan University (TU) to the king. She then received an invitation from the Royal Secretariat to study at TU with scholarship. Literary career She started teaching at Padma Kanya Campus after receiving her master's degree. She also taught at various colleges and campuses of the Tribhuvan University in her lifetime. She received a Ph.D. from Tribhuvan University for her thesis Gopal Prasad Rimal ka Kavya ma Swachchhandatavad (), in . The university was initially reluctant on accepting the proposal of the thesis since Rimal had written few poems only but accepted after multiple request of Giri. She is the second poet, after Laxmi Prasad Devkota, to represent Nepal in Afro-Asian Writers' Conference in 1975. She published her first book Euta Jiundo Jung Bahadur, a poetry collection, in 1974 (Jestha 2031 BS). She received positive reviews for her work and published a second poetry collection titled Jiwan: Thayamaru, in 1977 (2034 BS). Her third work was a novel titled Karagar, published in 1978. The novel is the story of a lonely woman living in Kathmandu. It deals with her relationship with her brothers after the death of their parents and her affair with a married man. The novel remains one of her widely-read works. In 1985 (2042 BS), she published the sequel