Telugu literature includes poetry, short stories, novels, plays, and other works composed in Telugu. There is some indication that Telugu literature dates at least to the middle of the first millennium. The earliest extant works are from the 11th century when the Mahabharata was first translated to Telugu from Sanskrit by Nannaya. The language experienced a golden age under the patronage of the Vijayanagara Emperor-Poet Krishnadevaraya.
Ushasri was a radio and literary personality in Telugu. The original name of Ushasri was Puranapanda Surya Prakasha Dikshithulu. He was from Andhra Pradesh in South India. He was famous for his radio programmes broadcast from the Vijayawada All India Radio station. His voice was easily recognised all across Andhra Pradesh among the 1960-1970s' generation. On radio, in a weekly series, he used to tell the epics of Mahabharata and Bhagavata Purana in a simple and lucid style which was easily understood even by illiterate people. The live commentary which he used to give for Sita Rama Kalyanam at Bhadrachalam was equally popular. He also wrote a number of books on Hindu epics. Even now, his voice is imitated by mimicry artists in their programmes. His live commentary on the opening of road-cum-rail bridge which was built on the River Godavari between Rajahmundry and Kovvur, was very famous. This bridge was inaugurated by Phakruddin Ali Ahmed, former president of India. In that commentary he was supported by Sankaramanchi Satyam, the author of Amaravathi Kathalu. He was the first person to write Navala Lekhavali that is series of letters in the form of suggesting young girls. The name of this work is Pellade Bomma. It was continuously published in Krishna Patrika during the 1960s. He wrote for Venkateswara Kalyanam a Yaksha Ganam in 1961. It was performed by Nataraj Ramakrishna. It was also performed in front of Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan, former President of India. At that time, Nataraja Ramakrishna cheated Ushasri, that this Yakshaganam was written by himself, but not by Ushasri. From that day onwards Ushasri had taken his script and not allowed Nataraja Ramakrishna to perform.
Gunturu Seshendra Sarma B.A. B.L., also known as Yuga Kavi, was a Telugu poet, critic and litterateur. He is well known for his works Naa Desam, Naa Prajalu and Kaala Rekha. He authored over fifty works which have been translated into English, Kannada, Urdu, Bengali, Hindi, Nepali and Greek.
Mallampalli Sarabheswara Sarma, popularly known as 'Sarabhayya', was a well-known Indian poet, critic, translator and exponent of classical literature.
Puripanda Appala Swamy (1904–1982), also spelled Appalaswamy, was a linguist, writer, translator, journalist and editor.
Rao Venkata Kumara Mahipati Surya Rau CBE (1885–1964) was Maharajah of Pithapuram. He was called by Telugu people "Abhinava Krishnadevaraya". Maharani Sita Devi of Baroda was his daughter.
Vedam Venkataraya Sastry was a Sanskrit and Telugu language poet, critic, Telugu theatre star and dramatist. He is known for providing authoritative editions of Sanskrit and Telugu classics.
Balantrapu Rajanikanta Rao was an Indian writer, composer and poet in the Telugu language. He was the son of Balantrapu Venkatarao, one of modern Telugu poet-duo "Kavi Rajahamsa" Venkata Parvateswara Kavulu. He won several national and state level awards for his work. He died in April 2018 at the age of 98.
Jandhyala Papayya Sastry was an eminent Telugu writer and lyricist. He was popularly known as Karunasri because his writings expressively show compassion, one of the nine Rasas. His famous kavyas include Pushpa Vilapam and Kunthi Kumari.
Mahamahopadhyaya is an honorific title given to prestigious scholars by the Government of India. Prior to 1947, the title was bestowed by the British Raj, and before them, by the kings of ancient India. In ancient India, a scholar that wrote works based on topics related to the shastras was granted the title Mahopadhyaya. The title Mahamahopadhyaya was bestowed on the best amongst the Mahopadhyaya scholars.
Kolakaluri Enoch is an Indian writer, teacher, and former Vice Chancellor of Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati. He was honoured by the Government of India, in 2014, by bestowing on him the Padma Shri, the fourth highest civilian award, for his contributions to the field of literature.
Kokkonda Venkata Ratnam Pantulu (1842–1915) was a well-known Telugu and Sanskrit writer in the nineteenth century. As a respect word pantulu meaning scholar was added. He was known as Andhra Johnson and is remembered as the multifaceted Andhra genius, the pioneer of many movements in social reform, literature, publication, journalism.
Nadella Purushottama Kavi was an Indian scholar, playwright, teacher and editor. Purushottama Kavi is notable for his "Chitra Kavyas". He was a great scholar in Sanskrit, Telugu, Persian and Hindi and composed more than 100 works in Telugu and Hindi. He also authored several plays in Hindi for the Hindu Nataka Samajam.
Vavilikolanu Subba Rao or Andhra Valmiki or Vaasu Daasa Swami was a Sanskrit scholar and a Telugu poet, often known by the epithet Andhra Valmiki.
Vaddadi Subbarayudu (1854–1938) was a popular Indian Telugu writer and translator. His writing had widespread appeal.
Dr. Papineni Sivasankar, a doyen of Modern Literature in Telugu, recipient of Sahitya Akademi Award, 2016 is an Indian poet, short story writer, and critic.
Asavadi Prakasa Rao was an Indian poet, critic, translator and scholar, who is known for his poetry and prose works. He is noted for his significant contribution to Telugu and Sanskrit literature. In January 2021, he was awarded India's fourth-highest civilian award the Padma Shri in the Arts and Literature category. As Ashtavadhani, he has given 170 performances and has written and published 50 books across various genres. His most notable literary contribution is his performance of Avadhanam – a literary performance. He has received an honorary D Litt from Potti Sreeramulu Telugu University and a Distinguished Teacher award from the Department of Higher Education, Government of Andhra Pradesh.
Mahakavi Dasu Sriramulu (1846–1908) was an Indian scholar, poet, orator, author, astrologer, avadhani, translator, and social reformer. He was a lawyer by profession. He was a child prodigy. He had no formal tutelage in these diverse arts – his knowledge was gained through his personal studies and association with scholars and artists.
Tripurana Venkata Surya Prasada RaoDora (1889–1945) was an Indian poet, translator and zamindar. He translated Sanskrit works like Raghuvaṃsam, Kumarasambhavam, Kiratarjuniyam, Uttara Ramacharita into Telugu. He also translated Shakespeare's King Lear into Telugu. His Bharata Dharma Darsanam (1910) inspired younger Telugu poets. His translations were noted for their correctness. He was awarded the title of Kalaprapurna by the Andhra University in 1943.
Sri Suryaraya Andhra Nighantuvu is a Telugu language dictionary. It is the most comprehensive monolingual Telugu dictionary. It was published in eight volumes between 1936 and 1974. It was named after Rao Venkata Kumara Mahipati Surya Rau, the zamindar of Pitapuram Estate who sponsored the first four volumes of the dictionary.
