N. Gopi

Born on 25 June 1948 in Bhongir village of Yadadri Bhongir District, Telangana State. After his schooling at Government High School, he chose to join Arts College, Osmania University, Hyderabad, where he did B.A. in 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 Nakka Gopal, he is popularly known as N. Gopi in the literary field.

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.

Summarize Timeline Fact Check

A prolific writer, Gopi has published 29 poetry collections so far.

Year	Name of the book	Name of the book (in English)	Notes
1976	Tangedu Poolu	Yellow Flowers	Received Devulapalli Krishna Shastri Award
1982	Mylu Raayi	Milestone	Received Feeverse Front award
1989	Chitra Deepaalu	Coloured Lights	Received Telugu University Best Poetry Award
1993	Vanthena	The Bridge	Received Samatha Rachayitala Sangam Award
1998	Kaalaanni Nidraponivvanu	I Will Not Let Time Sleep	Received Sahitya Akademi Award
1998	Naaneelu	The Little Ones	A trend setter poetic form adopted by nearly 1000 poets. So far 300 collections of this form have been published
2000	Chutta Kuduru	Circular Rest on Head
2002	Enda Poda	Trace of Sunshine
2002	Gopi Naneelu	Gopi's The Little Ones
2002	Jala Geetham	The Water Song	A celebration of water as a prayer to water in the Vedic mode - bears testimony to this. It has been described as path breaking and translated into 11 languages, including Persian
2004	Maro Aakaasham	Another Sky
2005	Aksharallo Dhagdhamai	Blazed Alphabets
2007	Deepam oka ekantham	Lamp - A Solitude
2008	Goa lo Samudram	Sea in Goa
2009	Vana Kadigina Cheekati	Darkness Washed by Rain
2010	Maa Vuru Maha Kaavyam	My Village an Epic
2011	Rathi Keratalu	Rocky Tides
2013	Hridaya Rashmi	Lustre of The Heart
2014	Malli Vithanamloki	Back to the Seed
2015	Purivippina Oopiri	An Unwinding of the Breath
2016	Akashamlo Matti	Soil in the Sky
2017	Jeevana Basha	Language of life
2018	Evari Dukhamo Adi	Whose sorrow is that
2019	China Padyalu	China Poems
2019	Vridhopanishat	Old Age poems
2020	Prapancheekarona	Prapancheekarona
2021	Manishini kalisinattundaali	It should be like meeting a man
2023	Kriya Oka Jeevana Laya	Action is a rhythm of life
2024	Repati Maidanam	Tomorrow's Esplanade

• Nenu Chusina Mauritius (1996)
• Naa Cyprus Yaatra (2001)
• America lo Telugu Yaatra (2002)
• England lo 25 Rojulu (2004)
• Germany lo Kavitaa Yaatra (2015)
• Chinalo Kavitaa Yaatra (2019)

• Vyasa Navami (1986)
• Gavaaksham (1992)
• Niluvettu Telugu Santhakam Sinare Vyaktitvam (1992)
• Saalochana - Peethikalu (1998)
• Vyaasa Kalasham (2012)
• Vyaasa Jignaasa (2016)

Other than these he wrote four travel books and many Translations^[2]

• Vemana Vaadam - commentary (1979)
• Prajaakavi Vemana (1980)
• Vemana Padyaalu - Paris Prathi 1730 AD (1990)
• Toli Parishodhakulu (1998)
• Vemana Velugulu - commentary (2012)

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. The thesis was also translated into Kannada language which is also a record.

• Jnanpith Awardee "Dr. C. Narayana Reddy Samagra Sahityam" (Complete Works of CNR) (2001)
• Founder Editor of ‘Telugu Parishodana’, a research quarterly (1987)

• Gnaana Devudu (1985)
• Tanmaya Dhooli (2012)
• Maa Oori Nadi (2016)
• Paagi (2016)
• Vidyapati Pranaya Geetaalu (2016)

• Telugu Vaachakam - text book (1982)
• Prayojana Vaachakam - adult literacy (1983)
• Akshara Yaanam - column in India Today (2005)

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.^[3] More than 1000 poets penned Naneelu and more than 500 poets published anthologies of Naanee collections. This 25 years old poetry form is a trendsetter in Telugu literature.^[4] Gopi’s Naneelu have been translated into 12 languages, including Russian.

Courtesy of his literary work and his service to Telugu literature, Gopi is a recipient of more than 50 awards. The following are some of his most recognized awards:

• Sahitya Akademi Award in 2000 for his poetry collection, ‘Kaalanni Nidra Ponivvanu’ (I Will Not Let Time Sleep)
• Jaini International Foundation Award for Jalageetham-Long Poem Rs.1 lakh Cash Award, 2018.
• Dr. Prof. Kothapalli Jayashankar Award with 1 lakh cash prize, a prestigious award instituted by Bharat Jagruthi-2023
• Krittitwa Samagra Samman Award (2023) by Bharatiya Bhasha Parishat, Kolkata
• Freeverse Front award in 1980 for his poetry collection, ‘Mylurayi’ (Milestone)
• Telugu University Award (1991)
• Delhi Telugu Akademi Award (1999)
• Award for outstanding service to literature and culture by Sri Annamacharya Project of North America, Chicago (SAPMA), USA (2001), and ‘Kala Ratna’ award by Govt. of Andhra Pradesh (2009)

Gopi has also served as an elected member of various literary bodies across India. Some of the most coveted positions include:

• Member of A.P. state Sahitya Akademi (1984)
• Telugu Advisory Board member, Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi (2002–03)
• Telugu Advisory Board member, National Book Trust of India, New Delhi (2006 onwards)
• Jury Member, Feature Films, Nandi Awards Committee A.P. Govt. (1996)
• Chairman, Jury, T.V. Nandi Awards Committee, A.P. Govt. (2011)
• Convener, Telugu Advisory Board and Member, Executive Council, Central Sahitya Akademi (2013-2017)