Penugonda Lakshminarayana Wins Kendra Sahitya Academy Award
Progressive writer and advocate Penugonda Lakshminarayana from Andhra Pradesh has won the prestigious Kendra Sahitya Academy Award for 2024. He is the sole Telugu literary figure to receive the award in this edition.
Lakshminarayana served as president of the progressive writers' association (Abhyudaya Rachaithala Sangham-Arasam) at the district, state, and also national levels. He is a practicing advocate in Guntur district courts and a leading writer. He bagged the annual Sahitya Academy award for his compilation of the book Deepika Abhyudaya Vysa Samputi under the literary criticism category. He started his literary career with Samidha poem way back in 1972.
Sahitya Academy announced annual awards in 21 Indian languages. Academy secretary Dr K Srinivasa Rao said that eight in the poetry section, three novels, two short stories, and three in literary criticism were among the award winners.
The awardees will receive a cash prize of Rs 1 lakh and a memento. The awards will be presented at a ceremony in New Delhi on March 8, 2025. The jury for Telugu literature consisted of renowned writers Rachapalem Chandrasekhara Reddy, K Srinivas, and JS Murthy, who selected the winner from 14 nominated books. Penugonda Lakshminarayana’s book Deepika was honored with the award. Interestingly, Rachapalem Chandrasekhara Reddy, who won the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2014, had previously served as the Arasam state president before Penugonda Lakshminarayana.