Wind in the Leaves: Contemporary Telugu Stories in Translation

About the Authors

Afsar Mohammad writes in Telugu. His collection of short stories in translation Sahil Will Come & Other Stories (2025) was recently published by Orient BlackSwan. He previously published a collection of poems Evening with a Sufi with Red River Press in 2022. His scholarly work Remaking History: 1948 Police Action and the Muslims of Hyderabad (2024) was published by Cambridge University Press. He currently teaches at the University of Pennsylvania, USA.

Bhagavathula Tripura Sundaramma and Bhagavatula Narasingarao wrote together under the pen name Beena Devi. They wrote and published several novels, short stories, and essays in leading Telugu magazines and newspapers. Recipients of the prestigious Telugu Sahitya Akademi Award in 1972, their short stories and essays were published in the volume Beena Devi Samagra Rachanalu.

Ganti Bhanumathi writes short stories and novels. Her publications include nine collections of short stories and fourteen novels. She is the recipient of several awards, including the Potti Sriramulu Telugu University Award for Best Women Writer, Andhra Saraswatha Samithi Award, P. V. Narasimha Rao National Award, Kathaa Peetham Award, Dr. C. Anandarama Literary Award, and Madireddy Sulochana Literary Award, among others.

Chandra Kanneganti is a poet and author. His works include a collection of poems titled Vana Velisina Saayantram and a collection of short stories titled Moodo Mudrana.

Gorusu Jagadeeshwara Reddy is a Telugu short story writer. A collection of his stories titled Gaja Eetharalu, published in 2007, received an award from the Sri Potti Sriramulu Telugu University. The English translation of his short story “Jagadamba Junction” appeared in Sagar, a journal published by the University of Texas at Austin. Another story, “Yavanika,” was staged as a play at the state-level Nandi Drama Festival. He worked as Sub-Editor of Andhra Jyothy Magazine for thirty years and is a freelancer now.

Kalpana Rentala is a poet, author, and translator. Her first book of poems, Nenu Kanipimche Padam, won the Ajantha Award. She has four books of translation. Kalpana’s story collection Aido Goda has been translated into Kannada. Kalpana’s first novel, Tanhayi, is considered one of the best contemporary novels in Telugu and has been translated into Malayalam. Her second novel, Kaveri ki Atu Itu, her second poetry book, Evvataveevu, and her feminist critical essays are forthcoming.

Krupakar Pothula is a prolific short story writer and has written over 100 short stories. One of his collections of short stories is Katha Krupakaram.

K. V. Manpreetam has written several short stories that have featured in various magazines and literary series. He was the recipient of the first prize in the Khammam Aesthetics Story Writing Contest 2024. His stories have been selected five times for the prestigious Telangana Katha Series — an annual compilation of the year’s best Telugu short stories. He works as a software engineer in Hyderabad.

K. V. Meghanath Reddy is a poet, short story writer, and novelist. His works include poetry — Karigipove Kanniti Chukka; two novels — Agajata and Payidaruvulu; and short stories — Kalunkuri Gutta. He is the recipient of several awards, such as the Vimalashanti Katha Puraskaram and Kolakaluri Bhagirathi Katha Puraskaram, among others.

Mohammad Gouse‘s body of work spans novels and short stories. Some of his notable books include a volume of short stories — Gaajula Sanchi — and two novels — Zero No. 1 and 826 KM.

Namburi Paripurna is a Telugu writer with several short stories, novels, and essays to her credit. Her autobiography Velugu Daarulalo was published in 2017. A multifaceted personality, she acted as a child artiste in the movie Bhakta Prahlada and later worked as a teacher. As a social worker, she has been closely associated with Alambana, a nonprofit organization.

Purnima Tammireddy is a writer, translator, and publisher, working in both Telugu and English. She was a writer-in-residence at the 2022 Sangam House International Writer Residency. She has translated into Telugu Manto’s Siya Hashiye and Amrita Pritam’s Pinjar. Her translation into English of Telangana Arms Movement leader Mallu Swarajyam’s memoir is forthcoming. She is also the author of the short story collection Emotional Pregnancy. Her English translation of Volga’s latest novel, On the Banks of the Pampa, was published by HarperCollins in 2025.

Chilukuri Rama Umamaheswara Sarma worked in the Police Service. His autobiography, Nenu Santa Kuudaa, Oka Jeevana Katha, was published in 2020. His short story collection is forthcoming.

Ramesh Kartik Nayak is a bilingual poet and short story writer from Telangana. He has four books to his credit: three in Telugu (Balder Bandi, Dhaavlo, and Kesula) and one in English (Chakmak). He is one of the pioneering writers in Telugu to depict the lifestyle of the Banjaras. Nayak won the Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar 2024 for his collection of Telugu short stories, Dhaavlo. He is also the recipient of the Kalahamsa Kavitha Puraskaram, Tribal Young Achievers Award from the Telangana Government, Banjara Youth Icon Award, Ravi Sastri Katha Puraskaram, among other awards.

Vi-Raagi is the pen name of the author Undavalli Suryachandra Rao. He is the author of over 100 short stories and has written poems as well. He is a senior journalist and has worked in various print media houses.

Satish Chandar is a senior journalist and currently editor of a web magazine, Great Andhra. He is also an author and poet with twenty-seven books in several genres. He is the recipient of several awards for literature, poetry, and journalism.

Sharada is a much-published writer and translator in Telugu and English. She has written forty short stories in Telugu and translated twenty of them. She has two short story volumes — Neelambari and Malayamarutam. Her translated works include the novel Veelunama (translation of Mr Hogarth’s Will by Catherine Helen Spence) and Sankaraabharanam (an anthology of translations from English to Telugu). Sharada recently concluded a series of articles on women in science in the monthly Telugu webzine Neccheli.

Vempalle Shareef is the author of four short story collections: Jumma, Topi Jabbar, Tiyyani Chaduvu, and Charala Pilli. In 2003, he received the Sahitya Akademi Yuva Puraskar for his book Jumma, which has been translated into English and Kannada. Jumma also earned awards from Kuvempu Bhasha Bharati and Kannada Sahitya Parishat. Shareef has edited three anthologies of short stories: Katha Minar (by Muslim writers of Andhra Pradesh), Chonga Roti, and Yuva: Under Forty. His stories have been featured in Sahitya Akademi’s India Under Forty, A Case of Indian Marvels, and The Greatest Telugu Short Stories Ever Told.

Potturi Vijayalakshmi is a prolific writer with 250 short stories and 14 novels to her credit. Her debut novel, Premalekha, was adapted into a successful film. Known for her humorous short stories, her works regularly appear in Telugu dailies. Her works include Hasya Kathalu, Chandrahaaram, Maa Inti Ramayanam, and Aanandame Andam. She has received numerous accolades, including the Telugu University Trust Award, Sri Krishna Mohan Rao Memorial Award, and Apuroopa Haasya Prasaaram, among others.

Volga is a renowned writer whose works, originally written in Telugu, are celebrated across the country through their translations. She was honored with the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award in 2015, among others. She received widespread acclaim for her novel The Liberation of Sita in 2016.

About the Translators

Akhila is a writer and translator based in Hyderabad. She translates from Telugu to English, English to Telugu, and Tamil to Telugu as well.

Divya Kalavala is an academic and translator. She was awarded the Charles Wallace India Trust Translation Fellowship for the year 2023–24 at the British Centre for Literary Translation at the University of East Anglia, UK. She holds a doctoral degree in Film Studies from The English and Foreign Languages University and has been teaching at Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal. Divya translates from her mother tongue, Telugu, into English and is primarily interested in translating literary texts from the margins as a form of political solidarity.

Hemavathi B. S. is an Associate Professor of English with a PhD in Folklore and Children’s Literature and an MPhil in Film Studies. She serves as a member of the Board of Studies for Bangalore University’s undergraduate programs. She has also conducted storytelling workshops, edited subtitles for films, and translated some works.

P. Jyothi is a Lecturer in Hindi and has been running a book club called “Spreading Light” for the past eighteen years. She is a reviewer and reviews books and films. Her books include Tehjeeb ka Baadshaah Dilip Kumar, Gurudutt O Vennela Yedaari, and a short story collection, Ulipi Kattelu. She edited a volume of single women’s stories, Swayamsidda.

Jyoti Kiran Pisipati is an educator, writer, editor, and an emerging Telugu–English translator. She has edited several short stories, poetry anthologies, a collaborative book on lifestyle management, and various research papers, and is currently editing a memoir. Her literary works were published in Kitaab, Hākārā, and in a collection of stories, In the Folds of Our Truth. She is the editor of a blog page, www.soulkadi.in.

Mandalaparthy Kishore is a senior journalist and has worked as editor of the Telugu edition of India Today. He has translated K. N. Y. Patanjali’s Telugu novella Okadeyyam Aaatmakatha. He is a member of the general council of Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi.

N S Murty is a bilingual poet and translator. He has to his credit two collections of English poetry — Incidental Muses and PenChants; two collections of select Telugu poems rendered into English — The Wakes on the Horizon and The Voices of the Surf; a collection of 100 best poems from world literature rendered into Telugu — Kavitvamt O Eda Dugulu; and a collection of best short stories from world literature rendered into Telugu — Katha Lekhini.

Raghu Ram Bandi writes and directs films and has extensive experience in TV and web media. He has also taught literature and film studies at the university level. Translating creative writing and nonfiction is a hobby and also a professional engagement for him.

Ramarao Kanneganti writes nonfiction in Telugu and English, drawing on a mix of sources: a formal education in mathematics and computer science and a detour through linguistics. While at Rice University, he defined the transliteration scheme that became the de facto standard for Telugu and built the software to support it.

Rigobertha Prabhatha translates as a hobby. Some of his translations have been published, and some are forthcoming. A postgraduate in English literature, he also works as an educational content writer. He also writes on films and books.

K. Purushotham‘s translations include The Oxford India Anthology of Telugu Dalit Writing (co-ed), Kakka: A Dalit Novel, Black Lilies: An Anthology of Telugu Dalit Poetry, 14 April Telugu Dalit Short Stories, and Speaking Sandals, besides several poems and short stories. His critical works include Ahead of their Times: Essays on Women Autobiography in India and Interrogating the Canon: Literature and Pedagogy of Dalits, along with several articles published in journals.

M. S. R. Seshu is a former banker who retired with diverse interests. He is an avid reader of English and Telugu classics and contemporary English and Telugu writing, with a particular interest in the Telugu short story. He translates poetry from Hindi into Telugu and English.

Dhurjati Venkata Subhashri is a multilingual writer and translator with experience in professional translation from German, Hindi, Telugu, and Kannada into English. She is currently engaged in literary writing and translation. Her stories and translations have appeared in Muse India, Out of Print, Kitaab, Saaranga, and Eemata online magazines.

Alladi Uma and M. Sridhar have been translating between Telugu and English for over thirty years. Their translations have appeared through Katha, Sahitya Akademi, Orient Blackswan, Stree, Ratna Books, and HarperCollins. They retired from the Department of English, University of Hyderabad.