Papineni Sivasankar

Born on Vijaya Dipavali 1953 in the village Nekkallu, Guntur district, Andhra Pradesh, India. His father Venkata Krishnarao was a former and mother Santamma was a housewife. Sivasankar completed his schooling at K.V.R.Z.P.H.School, Tulluru. He did his B.A. at JKC College, Guntur and stood first in Andhra University with Prabhala Sundararamayya Pantulu Gold Medal in 1974. He received his Master of Arts degree in 1976 at Andhra University, Nallapadu branch again with Telikicherla Venkataratnam Gold Medal. His Ph.D. thesis Sahityam - Konni Moulika Bhavanalu won Tumati Donappa Gold Medal as the best thesis from Acharya Nagarjuna University in 1989. He married Gruha Lakshmi in 1977 and with her had two daughters, Srujana and Spandana. And he joined B.S.S.B. College, Tadikonda as Telugu Lecturer in 1977 and retired as principal of that college in 2010.

Starting with Stabdhata-Chalanam in 1984 Sivasankar published five poetry collections in which the award-winning Rajani Gandha (2013) is significant. Dr. Papineni's greatness as a poet lies in his vibrant expression, fertile imagination, grandeur of thought and finest human sensibility. His first poem in free verse Cheekati nundi Vekuvaku was published in Dipavali Special issue of Andhra Jyothi in 1980. And his first short story Kalupu Mokka was published in Prajatantra weekly, in April 1977. Mattigunde was acclaimed as one of the 100 best short stories of 20th century. And Samudram is a unique narrative experiment in second person about the loss of succession to human intellect. Dr. Papineni published three short story collections. His short stories reflect the struggles of farmers, the impact of globalisation on villages in general, and the unrest and distress of human beings in particular. He brought out five books of criticism to his credit including Sahityam-Moulika Bhavanalu. As a critic, Sivasankar evaluated the merits of the classical poetry in Telugu. And with his insights in sociological theories he evolved many a concept like Avicchinnata (Continuity), Nisargata (Spontaneity), Parayitanam (Alienation) to analyze modern Telugu literature. In his exhaustive interview with Dr. C. Mrunalini Sivasankar revealed his exploration in Telugu literature and social culture as well.[2]

Sivasankar co-edited 'Katha Sahiti' annual anthologies of the best short stories in Telugu since 1990.[3] He also edited the annual anthologies of Telugu poetry from 2004 to 2014. Under his editorship many anthologies including Kavita! O Kavita!! (1994), Vismruta Katha (1998), Raitu Kavita (2004), and Telugu Talli (2015) and Geya Kavitha (2018) have been published.

• The Sahitya Akademi Award, 2016 for his poetry collection Rajani Gandha[4]
• Free Verse Front Award, Hyderabad, 1985
• Dr. Garikapati Kavita Puraskaram, Rajahmundry, 1991
• Jyeshta Sahithi Award, Visakhapatnam, 1993
• Ummidisetty Award, Tadipatri, 1993
• Dr. C. Narayana Reddy Award, Karimnagar, 1999
• Telugu University Vachana Kavitha Puraskaram, Hyderabad, 1999[5]
• Nutalapati Literary Award, Tirupathi, 2000
• Nagabhairava Kalapeetham Award, Ongole, 2002
• Andhra Pradesh Adhikara Bhasha Puraskaram, Tirupati, 2003
• Andhra Pradesh State Best Teacher Award, 2003
• Viswakalapeetham Snehanidhi Puraskaram, Hyderabad, 2006
• Visalandhra-Sunkara Sahithi Satkaram, Ongole, 2006
• Dr. Kethu Viswanatha Reddy Katha Puraskaram, Nandaluru, 2008
• Dr. Avamtsa Soma Sundar Kavitha Puraskaram, Pithapuram, 2010
• Andhra Nataka Kala Samithi Award, Bezawada, 2012
• Navyandhra Rastra Ugadi Visishta Puraskaram, Anantavaram, 2015
• Srujana Sahithi Puraskaram, Addanki, 2015
• Devarakonda Balagangadhara Tilak Puraskaram, Tanuku, 2015
• Swarna Bharath Kavi Satkaram, Gannavaram, 2016
• Bollimuntha Sahithi Satkaram, Tenali, 2017
• Bharathi Samithi Puraskaram, Gudivada, 2017
• G.S.V. Sahiti Puraskaram, Tanuku, 2017
• Best National Poet honor by Prasara Bharati, Varanasi, 2017
• Mahakavi Jashua Award, Guntur, 2017
• Mahakavi Tummala Kalapeetham Puraskaram, Guntur, 16-12-2019

• Stabdhata-Chalanam (1984)
• Oka Saaramsam Kosam (1990)
• Mattigunde (1992)
• Sahityam-Moulika Bhavanalu (1996)
• Aku Pacchani Lokamlo (1998)
• Oka Khadgam Oka Pushpam (2004)
• Sagam Terichina Talupu (2008)
• Nisanta (2008)
• Talli! Ninnu Dalanchi (2012)
• Rajani Gandha (2013)
• Dravadhuikata (2015)
• Maha Swapnikudu (2016)
• Veda Vyasam (2019)
• Ankura (2019)
• Nisarga (2019)
• Adarsa Moortulu (2019)

• Oka Anveshi, Konni Alochanalu, Interview in Andhra Jyothy Daily, 09-01-2017. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
• Darbhasayanam Srinivasacharya, Srujana Maha Drudham, Ati Mrudulam, An article in Sakshi Daily, 26-12-2016. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
• Rajanigandha, Collection of Poems, 2013. https://www.anandbooks.com/Rajanigandha. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
• Sahityam-Moulika Bhavanalu. http://www.anandbooks.com/Sahityam-Moulika%20Bhavanalu. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
• Talli! Ninnu Dalanchi. http://kinige.com/book/Tallee+Ninnu+Dalanchi. Retrieved 20 August 2018.
• Anveshana, Collection of essays on Papineni Literature, 21 February 2019.