New Delhi, Jan 11 (PTI) An anthology of 28 Telugu shortstories written by stalwarts of yesteryears as also newauthors making waves in the realm of Telugu literature is nowavailable in English.
"Moisture Trapped in Stone: An Anthology of Modern TeluguShort Stories" translated by K N Rao has stories abouteveryday lives and ordinary people, highlighting the issuesconfronting the society covering a wide spectrum of topics.
A total of 17 writers are featured in the volume, nine ofthem being women writers.
Feudalistic prejudices to present-day problems andrealities find a place in the stories, which range from theserious to the satirical, from light hearted humour to gravediscursive.
Some of the authors whose stories feature in theanthology, published by Niyogi Books, are B Geetika, DKameswari, Jalandhara, Kalipatnam Rama Rao, MadhurantakamRajaram and Popuri Lalita Kumari.
According to Rao, Telugu short story, as a genre ofliterary writing, celebrated its centenary year in 2011.
"The air was astir all over the Telugu-speaking areas ofthe country. Print medium helped its growth; magazines –weeklies and monthlies in particular. But it must be said thatthe Telugu short story does not enjoy a degree of acceptance,same as its counterpart from other languages of the country,possibly because of non-availability in translated version,"he says.
"However, as far back as 1952, when Palagummi Padmaraju's"Galivana" was adjudged the second best short story in a worldshort story competition conducted by the New York HeraldTribune, the Telugus went agog. This was 65 years ago. Iwonder if something like this happened again," he says.
That memory surfaced in Rao's mind as he read about thefestivities around the centenary of the Telugu short story in2011.
"It lit a spark: Why not I translate some Telugu shortstories into English, especially those written by well-knownwriters?" PTI ZMNBK.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.