NELLORE: With a literary career spanning over five decades, Telugu poet Dr Perugu Ramakrishna has made a significant mark in Indian literature. Author of 26 books across multiple genres, he has received prestigious awards, including the Saraswati Samman and Jatiya Rajya Bhasha Gaurav Samman.
Honoured with titles such as Matru Bhasha Seva Shiromani and Bharat Bhasha Bhushan, Ramakrishna’s works have been widely translated and studied across India and beyond. His poem on flamingos, released during the 2006 Flamingo Festival, is a landmark in environmental literature, translated into six Indian and two global languages. In 2023, 52 lines from this poem were included in Class nine Telugu textbook Telugu Parimalam, a rare honour for any poet.
Born on May 27, 1960, in Nellore, Ramakrishna studied English Literature at Andhra University (AU) and completed MA in Public Administration from Osmania University. He also earned postgraduate diplomas in Industrial Relations, Personnel Management, and Computer Applications. His literary journey began in 1975 when his first poem was published in a local journal. During the 1980s, he edited Manasa Veena magazine, fostering literary talent.
Ramakrishna’s poetic excellence has earned him over 150 national and 60 international awards, including the Andhra Pradesh Government’s Visishta Kavi Ugadi Puraskaram, the Telugu University Keerthi Puraskaram, and the Telangana Sahitya Akademi Puraskaram. His translations for the National Book Trust of India and Sahitya Akademi have further enriched literary discourse.
Madurai Kamaraj University and Madras University awarded him two M.Phil degrees and a Ph.D, while Prague honoured him with a D Litt in 2016, presented by Nobel laureate Professor Ernesto Kahan. Representing Telugu poetry globally, he has participated in Sahitya Akademi sessions, SAARC Writers’ Conferences, and international poetry festivals. In 2011, he introduced Telugu poetry to an international audience in Greece and has since toured the US, Europe, and the Middle East.
His contributions have been recognised in the Wonder Book of World Records as a distinguished regional language poet. Beyond poetry, he edits a progressive farmers’ monthly magazine and manages several literary pages. Since 2018, he has served as a State executive member of the Andhra Pradesh Progressive Writers’ Association and as State president of Akhila Bharatiya Bhasha Sahitya Sammelan, established in 1966 in Bhopal.
“My mother told me my father wrote poetry in structured verse. My elder brother, Phanibhushan Kumar, who passed away at 22, wrote poems in both Telugu and English. I admired and drew inspiration from the great poet Gunturu Seshendra Sarma, a literary guru from Thotapalli Gudur in Nellore district. He wrote the foreword for my first poetry collection, Vennela Jalapatham (Moonlight Cascade),” said Ramakrishna.
His journey is not just that of a poet but of a visionary who has elevated Telugu literature on a global scale. His poetry, deeply rooted in cultural ethos yet universally resonant, continues to inspire generations, leaving a legacy that will flourish for years to come.