Spouse(s) N Aruna Residence Hyderabad | Parents Nakka Chennaiah | |
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Born June 25, 1948 (age 68) ( 1948-06-25 ) Bhongir, Telangana Occupation Poet, Literary critic, Professor (Retd.) Notable work Praja Kavi Vemana (People's Poet, Thesis) (1978)
Kaalaanni Nidra Ponivvanu (I Will Not Let Time Sleep, Poetry) (1998)
Naneelu (The Little Ones, Experimental Poetry) (1998)
Jala Geetham (Water Song, Epic Poem) (2002) | ||
Dr. N. Gopi (Telugu: ఎన్.గోపి; born June 25, 1948) is an eminent Indian poet, literary critic in Telugu and Sahitya Akademi Award recipient. He has also been in the University system as a professor and Dean since 1974, until retiring in 2008. He has also held the post of the Vice Chancellor of Potti Sreeramulu Telugu University, Hyderabad. A humanist to the core, Gopi exudes nativity and national outlook in his poetry.
Contents
- Early Life and Education
- Career
- Literary Works
- Travelogues
- Literary Criticism
- Research
- Major Editing
- Translations into Telugu
- Other Writings
- Father of Naneelu
- Awards and Honours
- Reception and influence
- Research on Gopis works
- Books on Gopis works
- References
He has published 50 books including 21 poetry collections, 7 essay collections, 3 research works, 5 travelogues, 5 translations, 2 commentaries, 3 column writings, apart from 5 text books for schools and for adult education projects.
His poetry collections have been translated into several languages like Hindi, English, Gujarati, Nepali, Tamil. Malayalam, Marathi, Konkani. Dogri, Maithili, Kannada, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Oriya, Sindhi, Urdu, Assamese, Meitei, Bengali, Bodo, Kashmiri, Santali, Rajasthani, German, Russian and Persian.
His notable works are ‘Kalanni Nidra Ponivvanu’ (I Will Not let Time Sleep 1998); ‘Naneelu’ (The Little Ones 1998) and ‘Jala Geetham’ (Water Song - a long poem 2002).
Early Life and Education
Born on June 25, 1948 in Bhongir village of Nalgonda District, Telangana State. After his schooling from Government High School, he chose to join Arts College, Osmania University, Hyderabad, where he did B.A. with Telugu, Sanskrit and Linguistics group and stood with 6th rank, winning Nizam’s Gold Medal. This was followed by M.A. in Telugu, where he topped the University to win Gurajada Appa Rao Gold Medal from Osmania University in 1973. Later he did a P.G. Diploma in Applied Linguistics. Though his recorded name is N. Gopal, he is popularly known as N. Gopi in literary field.
Career
His first job was Project Officer in a Non-formal Project of UNICEF for one year. Later he joined as a Lecturer in the N.B Science College affiliated to Osmania University in 1974. Later he joined the OU in 1981. He became Professor of Telugu in 1990, Chairman Board of Studies in 1992 and Head of the Department in 1994. Later he was appointed as Vice Chancellor of Telugu University (1999-2002). He was the youngest VC in India when he was chosen for the post. In 2001, he also took an additional charge as an acting VC for Dravidian and Kakatiya Universities simultaneously. After completing his term as the VC of Telugu University, he came back to his parent university, where he served as the Dean Faculty of Arts (2004-2006). After retirement in 2008, he served as UGC Emeritus Fellow during 2011-13 and 2015-17 for the second time.
Literary Works
A prolific writer, Gopi has published 21 poetry collections so far.
Travelogues
Literary Criticism
Other than these he wrote four travel books and many Translations
Research
Gopi's Ph.D thesis (1978) on ‘Saint Poet Vemana’ is a monumental work and is rated as the best research work among 20 of that kind in Telugu. This book has had 6 reprints till date.
Major Editing
Translations (into Telugu)
Other Writings
Father of Naneelu
Gopi's sixth poetry collection ‘Naneelu’ (1998) (Epigrams like Hykus), means ‘The Little Ones’. This is a poetic form invented by N.Gopi, widely discussed and followed by hundreds of poets. Nearly 300 Nanee collections have been published adopting this form, making this 19 year old form a trend setter in Telugu literature. Gopi’s Naneelu have been translated into 12 languages, including Russian.
Awards and Honours
Courtesy of his literary work and his service to Telugu literature, Gopi is a recipient of more than 30 awards. The following are some of his most recognized awards:
Gopi has also served as an elected member of various literary bodies across India. Some of the most coveted positions include:
Reception and influence
Gopi's literary essays are considered original and are widely quoted. His commentaries to Vemana’s poems are considered comprehensive and modern. His prolific columns in various newspapers and magazines on subjects such as literature and current affairs were very well received. He is an orator and much sought after Personality among Telugu Literary and cultural Organizations.
Gopi's extensive work on Vemana's poetry and his large poetry collection have been the subjects of various academic research.
Research on Gopi’s works
So far, 5 Ph.Ds and 4 M.Phils have been awarded in various universities for research work on Gopi's literature.