A satisfying experience for Telugu book enthusiasts

Attendees urge the government to encourage State publishers to cut down the cost of books at lower book prices considering less availability of telugu books than translated ones.

on Feb 16, 2023

At the Vijayawada book festival, the Telugu literature books on poetry, short stories are selling like hotcakes in comparison to books in other languages. Books written by prominent writers are already selling in large numbers, books related to literature, poetry and ghazals by aspiring writers are also doing well.

New Telugu short story books by nascent writers such as Devudamma by Jhansy Papudesi, Alert Ego by Venugopal Jajjuri, C/O Bavarchi by Charan Parimi, Isuka Addam by Sri Uha, Parveta by Surendra Seelam are easily accessible at the book fair. Along with it, Sarala Rekhalu by Papineni Sivashankar and Kuchimanchi Agragrahara Kathalu by Mukkamala Chakradhar are also kept on hand.

Revisiting books by renowned authors

Specially set up a number of book stalls for great writers like Viswanatha Satyanarayana and Muppalla Ranganayakamma captured the attention of bibliophiles at the fair. Book enthusiast and poet P Radha Krishna said that it was riveting that all the literary treasures of a progressive poet, a traditional author and a feminist writer are available in nearby Kiosks. .

Viswanatha Sakthidhara Sri Pavaki, Viswanatha Satyanarayana's grandson from Vijayawada, said in a statement to TNIE that “Satyanarayana is beloved by people from all walks of life. Since the first edition, we have taken part in the Vijayawada Books Exhibition. There are 121 of his books accessible in the booth, and booklovers seem to like them”.

“All of the 60 volumes of books released by Muppalla Ranganayakamma are currently accessible at our stalls”, according to B Prasad of Aruna Publishing House. Additionally, we have Gudipati Venkatachalam books in stock.

The majority of book fans, however, believe that Telugu-written works are far inferior to their translated counterparts. S Praveen Kumar, a Telugu teacher, stated: "This is our seventeenth visit to the Vijayawada Book Fair. Unfortunately, it is simpler to access books about Telugu literature that have been translated into other languages than books written in Telugu. This is hardly encouraging for Telugu literature, in my opinion. The publication of Telugu novels has dropped as the price of paper has gone up.

Poetry collections

The expo also offers Telugu poetry collections by up-and-coming authors including Gandhari Vaana by Anil Dany, Iyyala Ullo by Gundla Venkata Narayana, 1818 by Sriram Puppala, Urike Jeevita by BVV Prasad, Agina Chotu Nunde by Rekha Jyothi, Desadesala Kavitvam by Anil Battula, 25va Ganta by Uma Nuttakki and Ghazal books by Udayasri V of Chennai

Owner of the Sri Sri Sahitya Vedika book stall in Vijayawada, Singampalli Ashok Kumar, stated, "We have been operating this stall at the book fair for the past 14 years and have received positive feedback from the public. With the help of our nonprofit organisation, we are selling 100 Sri Sri books worth $3,000 for just $2,000, and 140 collections of Sri Sri texts are kept on hand. According to Kishore Sri Krishna, a writer and film lyricist from Nellore, "The state government must encourage the publishers, which will help to decrease the cost of the books," in an interview with TNIE. People's reading habits would be encouraged by having easy access to literature with Telugu origins.