Hyderabad :
Telugu poet cartoonist, writer and author Devipriya has received Sahitya Akademi award for his anthology of poems, Gali Rangu.
Sahitya Akademi on Thursday announced the awards for poets and writers in different languages.
Earlier, the executive board of Sahitya Akademi headed by its president Prof Vishwanath Prasad Tiwari approved the names recommended by a jury drawn from 24 Indian languages. Seven books of novel and five each of poetry, short stories and literary criticism and one of play and essays won the awards for 2017.
According to K Sreenivasa Rao, secretary of Sahitya Akademi, the award carries a casket containing an engraved copper plaque, a shawl and a cheque of Rupees one lakh. It will be presented at a function to be held in New Delhi on February 12, 2018 coinciding with the Festival of Letters organised by the Akademi.
Devipriya’s ‘running commentary’, a daily cartoon in poetry, in Telugu dailies had won him a pride of place in journalism. He is also credited with introducing a new genre of writings in Telugu called Paigambara Kavulu in contrast to the Digambara movement of 1960s.
Devipriya was born in Guntur on August 15, 1949, and rose to fame with his verse, prose and cartoons. His real name is Khaja Hussain. Devipriya won laurels for his poetic book, Pitta Kooda Egiri Povalsinde, published in 2002. He introduced a new literary concept with his cartoons with the comment in verse. In fact, he is hailed as the father of poetic cartoon strips in Telugu. His first publication was Amma Chettu.
Some of his works are Gareebu Geetalu, Chepa Chiluka, Neeti Putta, Tuphanu Tummeda, Insha Allah, and Samajananda Svaami. Devipriya’s writings reflect the essence of life, particularly of the downtrodden and the deprived classes of society. He penned songs for a number of films. Several Telugu poets and writers including Telangana Sahitya Akademi chairman Nandini Siddha Reddy congratulated Devipriya on winning the award.
Noted Telugu poet and writer Khadar Mohiuddin said Devipriya is a multi-faceted personality with proficiency in Telugu and English. “He is a trendsetter in Telugu verse, prose as well as journalism,” he said.
source: http://www.timesofindia.indiatimes.com / The Times of India / News> City News> Hyderabad News / by Syed Akbar / TNN / December 22nd, 2017