N. Gopi (Telugu: ఎన్. గోపి; born 25 June 1948) is an eminent Indian poet, and 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. Gopi's poetry displays nativity and a national outlook.
He has published 57 books including 28 poetry collections, 7 essay collections, 3 research works, 6 travelogues, 5 translations, 2 commentaries, and 4 column writings, apart from 3 textbooks for schools and for adult education projects.
His poetry collections have been translated into several Indian languages and foreign like Hindi, English, Gujarati, Tamil. Malayalam, Marathi, Konkani. Dogri, Maithili, Kannada, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Odia, Sindhi, Urdu, Assamese, Manipuri/Meitei, Bengali, Bodo, Kashmiri, Santali, Rajasthani, German, Chinese, Russian, and Persian.
His notable works are ‘Kalanni Nidra Ponivvanu’ (I Will Not let Time Sleep 1998); ‘Naneelu’ (The Little Ones 1998); ‘Jala Geetham’ (Water Song - a long poem 2002) and ‘Vruddhopanishath’ (Old Age poems 2019).
He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award in 2000 for his poetry collection, “Kaalanni Nidraponivvanu” (I will not let time sleep). He is also the recipient of 30 awards including the Freevers Front Award (1980), the Telugu University Award (1991) Delhi Telugu academy award (1999), an award for outstanding service to literature and culture by Sri Annamacharya Project of North America Chicago (SAPNA) US (2001) and ‘Kalaratna’ award by Government of Andhra Pradesh.
Early life and education.
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.
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 28 poetry collections so far.
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.
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. 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. 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 50 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.D.s and 4 M.Phils have been awarded in various universities for research work on Gopi's literature.
References.
 ;templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" / ;