Noted literary critic and activist Katyayani Vidmahe won the prestigious Sahitya Akademi award for 2013 in Telugu category. She won the award for her book ‘Sahityaakashamlo Sagam.’ The Sahitya Akademi announced the awards in Delhi on Wednesday.
Katyayani Vidmahe hails from Warangal and she is currently working as Telugu professor in Kakatiya University. She was the eldest daughter of well known critic late Ketavarapu Ramakoti Sastry. Sastry worked as a professor at Osmania and Kakatiya universities. Like her father, Katyayani too developed interest in Telugu literature and did her PhD in Telugu from Kakatiya University. Katyayani has around 20 books to her credit. Of which, “Sahityakasamlo Sagam.. Streela Kavityam, Katha, Asthitva chaitanyam” won the award.
This book was a compilation of around 28 essays on women writers. The speeches made by Katyayani and her reviews were compiled in this book. She focused mainly on the gender bias against women writers in Telugu over the ages in the book. The other popular books of Katyayani included ‘’Mahila Sadhikarata - Savallu”, “Adhunika Telugu Sahityam - Streevada Bhumika”, “Gender Samanata Disagaa Samajam, Sahityam”, Kanyasulkam - Samajika Sambandhalu” and “Gender Spruha”.
As an activist, Katyayani founded Society for Women’s Studies and Development and Prajasvamya Rachayatala Vedika (exclusive writers’ association for women). She was associated with National Book Trust in editing their Telugu publications and edited Kodavatiganti Kutumba Rao’s works for Sahitya Akademi.
Katyayani believes that the influence of women’s studies on Telugu literature began with the Marxist and women’s movements in AP.
She is fighting for the rights of women and equal status for women in literature too. She opines that the role of women is undermined in old literature and women struggled hard to come out with their literary works in the male-dominated society.