Warangal: Katyayani Vidmahe, a noted litterateur and Kakatiya University Telugu department professor, has been declared the winner of the Kendra Sahitya Akademi Award for Telugu-2013 for her work Sahityakashamlo Sagam- Streela Asthitwa Sahityam– Kavitwam– Katha, a compilation of essays published in 2010.
The award was formally announced by the Delhi-based Sahitya Akademi, India’s national academy of letters, on Wednesday.
Incidentally Prof. Katyayani is the second winner of the Kendra Sahitya Akademi award for Telugu from Warangal after Ampassayya Naveen, who had received the honour for his novel, Kala Rekhalu, in 2004.
Born in Mailavaram village of Addanki in Prakasam district in 1955, Prof. Katyayani had completed her education in Warangal and Hyderabad. A gold medalist in MA Telugu in 1977 from Kakatiya University, her literary career spans more than two decades.
She has to her credit 275 research papers on Telugu literature, besides 28 published books and 25 books as an editor.
Though her original name is Ketavarapu Katyayani, she is identified in literary circles with her pen name Katyayani ‘Vidmahe’.
She started her teaching career in 1977 at Kakatiya University, where she pursued her PhD on the famous Telugu novel Chivaraku Migiledi.
Kakatiya University Vice-Chancellor, Prof. B Venkat Rathnam, registrar, Prof. K. Sayulu, and other faculty members congratulated Prof. Katyayani, who is now said to be on a private visit to the United States.
