Mahendra Kumar Mishra is a noted folklorist. He is the author, most recently, of Erai, Erai—Multilingual Education in Tribal Schools of India: Voices from Below (2023). His work on using folklore in school curricula in a multilingual education framework in Odisha, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan has been widely recognised. In 2023, UNESCO conferred on him the International Mother Language Award. He is currently a National Advisor, Multilingual Education, with the Language and Learning Foundation.