Telugu-In Translation
Varavara Rao: A Life in Poetry—Is it a life in Poetry or A Livewire of Poetry? ‘Livewire is Better than a Poet’ is the title of an early poem and ‘Birds like my urge for freedom/ Waiting on the power line’ are lines from another poem titled ‘Companion’.
2023
Enoch’s Ananta Jeevanam describes the life of Anantpur city caught in incessant rains in a drought-prone region. He portrays how the lives of the people of the town were overwhelmed by the devastating downpour. The book reminds one of James Joyce whose work Dubliners captured the essence of Dublin. It also unearths stories of the unwept and the unsung many, along with the fortunes of the feudal family of Nelagallu Zamindar.
Chinnaiah Jangam’s translation of Telugu Dalit poet Gurram Jashuva’s Gabbilam, a re-writing in itself of Kalidasa’s Meghadutam, is a significant contribution to Dalit discourse in India and to the literatures of the marginalized in any part of the world.