‘Atreya Sarma U’ – aka ‘U Atreya Sarma’ or ‘Uppaluri Atreya Sarma,’ hailing from Hyderabad, is a poet, freelance editor, book-reviewer and translator. A number of his poems and writings (articles, editorials, reviews, forewords, translations) mostly in English and a sprinkling in Telugu – have appeared in various print/online media and anthologies. A freelance editor since Jan 1997, he is Chief Editor of the Muse India e-journal (www.museindia.com) since Nov 2016, having joined its team since Nov 2009; he was Editor (Fiction) up to Mar-Apr 2017 issue; he handled its News & Events column also up to Sep 2017; and continues to handle Reviews and Telugu Literature sections. His past editorship includes two print journals – Bharatiya Pragna monthly and Cyberhood weekly.
As Contributing Editor (Telugu Literature), he has so far presented five exhaustive features on Telugu Literature in Muse India.
Atreya Sarma has a collection of English poems, Sunny Rain-n-Snow (Partridge 2016). It was among the three poetry collections shortlisted for the Cochin Litfest Poetry Prize 2019.
As a collaborator, he has composed in English the profiles of 132 modern Telugu Stalwarts for the bilingual book Marapuraani Maanikyaalu (2010) (with wordy & pictorial sketches in Telugu by BNIM, a noted writer & artist).
As a freelance editor, Atreya Sarma has edited 13 books: (1) Celebrating Creativity: HLF 2010 (An anthology of poems/ short stories by 76 writers); (2) Souvenir: HLF 2010; (3) Lung Care and Long Life by Dr Shyam Sunder Raj (2012); (4) Memoirs & Musings of an IAS Officer by KV Natarajan, IAS (Retd) (Menaka Prakashan, 2013); (5) Turquoise Tulips (a collection of short stories) by the USA-based Dr Ashok Patwari (Authors Press 2015); (6) Prolegomena and Transformative Articles on Literary Translation by Dr VVB Rama Rao (Authors Press, 2015); (7) Femininity: Poetic Endeavours (Authors Press, 2016); (8) ‘Oka prasthaanam’ (translated into Telugu by Varanasi Nagalakshmi of ‘A Journey’ a collection of poems rendered into English by Mantha Ravi from Narendra Modi’s Gujarati original) (awaiting publication); (9) Horror Scope (a collection of short stories) by Australia-based VP Gangadharan (Authors Press, 2019); (10) Poets Renowned and Poets Flourishing by Dr VVB Rama Rao (Authors Press, 2019); (11) Retreat and Other Short Stories by Dr Ashok Patwari (Austin Macauley Publishers LLC, 2019); (12) The Poster Boy – A collection of stories by Dr Ashok Patwari (in the pipeline with Locksley Hall Publishing); (13) A fictional autobiography by Gian Singh Shatir (in the pipeline/ jinxed?).
As a translator from Telugu to English, Atreya Sarma has translated many individual poems, short stories and articles besides 5 major books: (1) Salt of the Earth (2013) — translation of 16 short stories by a senior and prominent writer Dr Mallemala Venugopala Reddy. (2) Thousand Hoods (Viswanatha Sahitee Peetham, 2015/2018) — translation of Jnan Pith awardee Viswanatha Satyanarayana’s 36-chapter mega novel ‘Veyipadagalu’ (6 chapters, 9 to 14 by Atreya Sarma, as one of the 5-member panel). (3) Merciless Dark: The Mystery of the Eclipse Island (Vol. 1 of the multiple volume ‘Merciless Dark’) by Harisshva D V (White Falcon, 2019) — trans-creation of unpublished Telugu manuscript. (4) (4) Dr V L Dutt: Glimpses of a Pioneer’s Life Journey (2021), reflections of Dr V L Indira Dutt, CMD of The KCP Ltd covering the life & work of her husband Dr V Lakshmana Dutt, a leading industrialist, transcribed (along with Ambika Ananth). (5) My Sublime Saviour (editing, adapting & trans-creating of the unpublished Telugu original manuscript of Dr Kampalle Ravichandran – awaiting publication).
Atreya Sarma had for over 5 years (Jun 2013 to Jul 2018) featured and encouraged poets through a weekly column ‘Wordsmith’ in The Hans India, a Hyderabad based English daily.
He has guest-edited two Features — ‘India @ 70’ for Setu Aug 2017); and 'Animal Poetics' for Teesta Review (May 2022), both e-journals.
He holds an MA (English Litt), a PG Dip (Mass Communications & Telugu Translation Techniques), a BA (English Litt, Sanskrit Litt, History) and BSc (Botany, Zoology, Chemistry), and CAIIB (Part I) with mid-level managerial experience in SBI.
He is on the Advisory Board of Teesta: An International Journal of Poetry; and was the official critic of Metverse Muse, an international journal of metrical poetry from Visakhapatnam until Sep 2019.
He has received six literary awards — ‘Setu Award for Excellence 2017’; ‘Shambhabi Samman 2019’; International Sufi Centre (Bengaluru)for “Distinguished Contribution to Indian English Poetry” (2020); Setu Special Award for Excellence 2020; Rashtriya Sanskriti Mahotsav for Literary Merit by the Department of Culture, Government of India (at its Hyderabad event on 03 Apr 2022); and ‘Padma Shri Asavadi Prakasa Rao Memorial Literary Award 2024’ (on 28 Jan 2024).
Email: atreyasarma@gmail.com
(Updated, 31 Jan 2024)
