Renowned Telugu author Velcheru Narayana Rao has been selected for the Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award.
Born in Koppaka near Eluru in West Godavari district, he did an MA from Andhra Viswa Kala Parishat and secured a diploma in linguistics from Osmania University in 1970.
The next year, he started working in the Department of South Asian Studies at the University of Wisconsin, Madison, U.S.A.
A critic, researcher and translator of Telugu literature, Prof. Rao is the author of several books on Telugu literature and history. His publications include Girls for Sale: Kanyasulkam, A Play from Colonial India, God on the Hills: Temple Songs from Tirupati, which he co-authored with David Shulman, Textures of Time: Writing History in South India, co-authored with Sanjay Subrahmanyam and David Shulman and Hibiscus on the Lake: Twentieth Century Telugu Poetry from India.
Governor Biswa Bhusan Harichandan congratulated Prof. Rao.He said Prof. Rao deserved the award as he was known as a walking encyclopedia of Telugu literature.
