Eminent Telugu writer, poet and critic Ravuri Bharadwaja has been chosen for the prestigious Jnanpith award for the year 2012. He was honoured for his contribution to Telugu literature. The decision was taken by a selection board chaired by noted Odia Poet Sitakant Mahapatra.

Ravuri Bharadwaja is the third Telugu to get this award. Earlier, late Viswanatha Satyanarayana got this award for ‘Ramayana Kalpavruksham’ (1970) and C. Narayana Reddy for ‘Viswambara’ (1988).  The 86-year-old Ravuri has compiled 37 collections of short stories and wrote 17 novels. He has also written six short novels for children and eight plays. His other awards include:

1) State Sahitya Academy Award for Literature (1968)

2) State Sahitya Academy Award for Literature (1983)

3) Central Sahitya Academy Award (1983)

4) Gopichand Literary Award (1968)

5) Rajalakshmi Award for Literature (1987).