Balivada Kanta Rao (3 July 1927 – 6 May 2000) was a noted Telugu

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others asp ...

and playwright. He was born in Madapam village in Srikakulam District of

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (, abbr. AP) is a state in the south-eastern coastal region of India. It is the seventh-largest state by area covering an area of and tenth-most populous state with 49,386,799 inhabitants. It is bordered by Telangana to the ...

, he worked in various capacities as civilian officer in the

Indian Navy The Indian Navy is the maritime branch of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff, a four-star admiral, commands the navy. As a blue-water navy, it operates si ...

. He has to his credit 38 major and minor novels, 400 short stories, 5 major plays, host of playlets and radio plays and travelogues. Many of his novels and stories have been translated into other Indian languages. He won several awards which include Andhra Pradesh Sahitya Akademi, Telugu University Award, Gopichand Literary award, Ravi Shastri Memorial Award and Kalasagar Vishishta Puraskaram. He was the winner of Kendriya

Sahitya Akademi The Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, is an organisation dedicated to the promotion of literature in the languages of India. Founded on 12 March 1954, it is supported by, though independent of, the Indian government. Its of ...

Award in 1998 by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

.Sahitya Akademi.Award Winners

Novels and novelettes

Balivada's published repertoire includes 38 major and minor novels. Many of his works have been translated into Hindi, Gujarati, Kannada and other Indian languages. Some of his works are: *''Sharada'' (1947) *''Parajayam'' (1949). *''Annapurna'' (1950) *''Buchi'' (1950) *''Suguna'' (1951) *''Godameeda Bomma'' (1953) *''Dagapadina Tammudu'' (1957) *''Matsyagandhi'' (1962) *''Sampangi'' (1970) *''Nalugu Manchalu'' (1966) *''Punyabhumi'' (1969) *''Ide Narakam Ide Swargam'' (1974) *''Vamsadhara'' (1982) *''Delhi Majlilu'' (1984) *''Chaitra Parvam'' (1977) *''Love in Goa'' (1984) *''Maro Rajasekhara Charitra'' (1986) *''Ajanta'' (1986) *''Ellora'' (1988) *''Ammi and Janmabhoomi'' (2003. Published Posthumously) Apart from the novels, 400 short stories, 8 Plays, travelogues, essays have been published and staged. Many of his plays were broadcast on All India Radio and Doordarshan. Five anthologies of his stories and one anthology of six small novellas have been published

Novels and novelettes

References

Further reading