Varavara Rao

Pendyala Varavara Rao (born 3 November 1940) is an Indian activist, poet, teacher, and writer from Telangana, India.

Pendyala Varavara Rao was born on 3 November 1940 in Chinna Pendyala, Warangal district into a Telugu Brahmin family.

He studied at Chinna Pendyala, Warangal and Hyderabad.

Rao began publishing poetry in the late 1950s in journals and magazines, and his first poetry collection Chali Negallu (Camp Fires) was published in 1968.

Varavara Rao has published fifteen poetry collections of his own besides editing a number of poetry anthologies.

In 1960, he completed a post-graduate degree in Telugu literature from Osmania University.

Rao initially taught Telugu literature at two different private colleges in Telangana, before joining the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting of the Government of India as a publication assistant.

In 1966, Rao founded a group called Saahithee Mithrulu (Friends of Literature), which started producing a literary journal called Srujana.

Srujana was published from 1966 to 1992, and focused on publishing the works of young, local poets.

Srujana was later replaced with a new journal named Arunatara.

Rao, along with a group of Telugu writers, periodically self-published stories, poems, and other literature, and sold them directly to book sellers.

In 1967, Rao formed part of a generation of writers and poets that criticized the Telugu literary community's disengagement with politics.

His poetry collections are: Chali Negallu (Camp Fires, 1968), Jeevanaadi (Pulse, 1970), Ooregimpu (Procession, 1973), Swechcha (Freedom, 1978), Samudram (Sea, 1983), Bhavishyathu Chitrapatam (Portrait of the Future, 1986), Muktakantam (Free Throat, 1990), Aa Rojulu (Those Days, 1998), Unnadedo Unnattu (As it is, 2000), Dagdhamauthunna Bagdad (Burning Bagdad, 2003), Mounam Oka Yuddhaneram (Silence is a War Crime, 2003), Antassootram (Undercurrent, 2006), Telangana Veeragatha (Legend of Telangana, 2007), Palapitta Paata (Song of Palapitta, 2007) and Beejabhoomi (Field of Seeds, 2014).

The journal was initially published on a quarterly basis, but following wide popularity, it became a monthly journal in 1970.

He was instrumental in founding two writer's associations that actively engaged in politics; the Tirugubatu Kavulu (Association of Rebel Poets) in Warangal, and the Viplava Rachayitala Sangham (Revolutionary Writers’ Association), popularly known as Virasam, in 1970.

The group was inspired by the Naxalbari uprising and the Other members of Virasam included author Kutumba Rao, dramatist Rachakonda Viswanatha Sastri, poet and historian K.V. Ramana Reddy, Jwalamukhi, Nikhileswar, Nagna Muni and Cherabanda Raju.

Virasam was closely associated with Dalit politics.

As a member of Virasam, Rao participated in educational campaigns and contributed to several anthologies of writing published by authors connected with Virasam.

He has been part of the executive committee of Virasam since its inception.

Rao's book, Telangana Liberation Struggle and Telugu Novel – A Study into Interconnection between Society and Literature (1983) is considered to be a landmark in Marxist literary criticism in Telugu.

He published half a dozen volumes of literary criticism and a volume of his editorials in Srujana.

In 1986, one of his poetry anthologies, Bhavishyathu Chitrapatam (Portrait of the Future), was banned by the state government.

During his periods of incarceration, Rao maintained and published a personal journal, Sahacharulu (1990), which was translated into English and published in 2010 as Captive Imagination.

He also translated Ngũgĩ wa Thiong'o's prison diary, Detained, and novel, Devil on the Cross, into Telugu.

He retired from teaching in 1998.

But later he left research to join a private college at Siddipet, Medak district as a lecturer.

From there he switched over to DAVP, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, New Delhi to work as a Publication Assistant.

Again he left the job to join as a lecturer in another private college at Jadcherla, Mahabubnagar district.

He moved to Warangal to join Chanda Kanthaiah Memorial College (CKM College) where he worked as Telugu lecturer and later became its principal.

Rao is considered as one of the best critics in Telugu literature and taught Telugu literature to graduate and undergraduate students for about 40 years.

He is known as an orator and had addressed thousands of public gatherings.

Virasam was subsequently banned by the Andhra Pradesh State Government in 2005, for one year, under the Andhra Pradesh Public Security Act, 1992.

In 2008, an anthology of selected poetry by Rao, titled Varavara Rao Kavitvam (1957-2007) (Varavara Rao's Poetry) was published.

Rao's work has been translated into English by Dr. D Venkat Rao (professor at the English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad).

His poetry has been translated into almost all Indian languages.

His poetry collections appeared in Malayalam, Kannada and Hindi and a few Bengali and Hindi literary journals brought out special numbers of his poetry and writings.

It was banned again in 2013.

He is an accused in the 2018 Bhima Koregaon violence and has been arrested under the non-bailable Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.

Rao was arrested on the charge of plotting to assassinate Indian prime minister, possibly based upon planted evidence.

In August 2022, he was released on bail by the Supreme Court of India, on medical grounds.