Kalekuri Prasad

Kalekuri Prasad
Kalekuri Prasad
Born	25 October 1962; Kanchikacherla village, Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh
Died	17 May 2013 (aged 50)
Occupation(s)	poet, writer
Parents	Srinivasa Rao (father); Lalita Sarojini (mother);

Kalekuri Prasad (25 October 1964 – 17 May 2013) was a Telugu poet, writer, literary critic, and dalit revolutionary activist.

Life

Kalekuri Prasad was born on October 25, 1962 in Kanchikacherla village, Krishna district, Andhra Pradesh to Lalita Sarojini and Srinivasa Rao.^[1] His parents were teachers in a missionary school.^[2]

Kalekuri completed his primary and high school education in Eluru and Kanchikacherla. He then went to Guntur Andhra Christian College (AC College) in the early 1980s where he became invovled in dalit activism.^[2]

Dalit movement in Andhra Pradesh

Prasad worked in Jananatyamandali, Virsam, and former member of People's War Group. He actively participated in the Dalit movement at the time of the Chundur Massacre/Tsundur massacre (1991), Karamchedu massacre (17 July 1985), along with Bojja Tharakam, K.G. Satyamurthi, and others.^[3] He participated in the World Conference against Racism 2001, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Tolerance (WCAR), which was organised by the United Nations in Durban from 31 August to 8 September.^{[citation needed]} He contested from the Nandigama Assembly constituency in 1994 Elections from the Bahujan Samaj Party and secured 1,467 votes. ^[4]

Works

Prasad's songs have been used in films. He edited magazines. He translated 70 books from English to Telugu including the works The End of Imagination (1998) and The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy. He wrote in Telugu "Andhra Pradesh lo Dalitulu".^[2] He used Yuvaka as pen name for his poems.^[5]

Books

Dalit Literature (1962 – 2003)
Dalita Kiranalu
Dalit Movement – Dalit Literary Movement
Dalita Hakkula Nigha
Andhra Pradesh Dalits
For a Fistful of Self Respect
Untouchable Love (Antaraani Prema)

Translations

Swami Dharma Theertha – The Menace of Hindu Imperialism (1998)
Arundhati Roy – The End of Imagination (1998); The God of Small Things
Kishore Shantabai Kale – Against All Odds
Primo Levi – If This Is a Man (as Khaidi Number 174517)
Mahasweta Devi – Choli ke Peeche, Paalatalli, Rudali
Khalil Gibran – Selected poetry
Vandana Shiva, Utsa Patnaik, Krishna Kumar, Palagummi Sainath, KS Chalam – Various essays
John Holt – How Children Learn (co-translated with V. Srihari and Sunkara Ramachandra Rao)
A.G. Noorani – Islam–Jihad
Che Guevara – Revolutionary Politics (with Safdar Ahmed and Gudipudi Vijaya Rao)
Basheer – Short stories

Songs

Karma Bhumilo Pusina O Puvva
Bhumiki Pachani Rangesinattu
Chinni Chinni Asalanni

Death

Kalekuri Prasad died on 17 May 2013 at Ongole, Ambedkar Bhavan.^[2]

References

^ "దళిత కవి కలేకూరి ఇక లేరు". Retrieved 17 November 2017.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Teja, Charan (25 October 2021). "Remembering Kalekuri Prasad, unconventional poet who transformed Telugu literature". The News Minute. Retrieved 26 July 2025.
^ "Tributes paid to Telugu poet Kalekuri". The Hindu. 18 May 2015.
^ https://old.eci.gov.in/files/file/4051-andhra-pradesh-1994/
^ Bharathi, Thummapudi (2008). A History of Telugu Dalit Literature. Gyan Publishing House. p. 172. ISBN 978-81-7835-688-4. Retrieved 26 July 2025.

[1] "దళిత కవి కలేకూరి ఇక లేరు". Retrieved 17 November 2017.

[:0-2] Teja, Charan (25 October 2021). "Remembering Kalekuri Prasad, unconventional poet who transformed Telugu literature". The News Minute. Retrieved 26 July 2025.

[3] "Tributes paid to Telugu poet Kalekuri". The Hindu. 18 May 2015.

[4] ttps://old.eci.gov.in/files/file/4051-andhra-pradesh-1994/

[h469-5] Bharathi, Thummapudi (2008). A History of Telugu Dalit Literature. Gyan Publishing House. p. 172. ISBN 978-81-7835-688-4. Retrieved 26 July 2025.

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