Madhurantakam Rajaram (
Telugu: మధురాంతకం రాజారాం) (5 October 1930 – 1 April 1999) was an Indian author who is considered one of the foremost of modern Telugu short story writers. He is the winner of
Sahitya Akademi Award
The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...
of 1993 and Katha prize for short stories for the years 1991 and 1993.
Early life and literary career
Rajaram was born in
Damalcheruvu village of
Chittoor 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 ...
state. Rajaram worked as Telugu teacher at Zilla parishath high school of
Damalcheruvu and wrote stories to prominent Telugu dailies. In the span of over five decades he wrote many short stories depicting the lives of middle-class or lower-middle-class people in
Rayalaseema region of Andhra Pradesh. His collection of short stories include Madhurantakam Rajaram kathalu, Halikulu Kushalama etc. and he has also tested other genre of writing such as plays. In its citation, Sahitya Akademi said that "Madhurantakam Rajaram Kathalu is recognized as a masterpiece of Indian short fiction in Telugu for its faithful delineation of the outer and inner life of the rustic folk, its proper employment of dialect, its total comprehension of social and existential reality and its directness and force of narration."
Madhurantakam Rajaram's sons Madhurantakam Narendra and Madhurantakam Mahendra are also accomplished story writes, some times they are collectively referred as ''Madhurantakam Trio''.
Honours
* 1968 Andhra Pradesh Sahitya Academy Award for Short stories
* Tanjore Tamil University Award for Translations
* 1990 Kondepudi Srinivasa Rao Sahiti Satkaram by Arasam Guntur
* 1991 Gopichand Sahiti satkaram (Hyderabad)
* 1993 Sahitya Academy Award for Short stories
* 1994 Honorary Doctorate by Sri Krishnadevaraya University
* 1996 Prathibaamoorthi Puraskaaram by Appa Josyula-Vishnu Bhotla Foundation (USA)
Literary works
* Varshinchina Megham
* Praanadaata
* Taanu Veliginchina Deepaalu
* Punarnavam
* Kalyanakinkini
* Kammatemmera
* Vakragathulu – Ithara Kathalu
* Vagapetiki
* Vinodapradarsanam
* Revati Prapancham
* Madhurantakam Rajaram kathalu – 4 Volumes (Won Sahitya Academy Award)
As editor
* Tholinaati Telugu Kathalu
* Oka Dasaabdi Telugu Kathalu
* Telugu Kathakulu – Kathana Reethulu
References
1930 births
1999 deaths
Telugu writers
People from Chittoor district
20th-century Indian short story writers
Writers from Andhra Pradesh
Indian editors
Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in Telugu
{{india-writer-stub