From the Editor:

  Thulika means quill. I am planning to translate the short stories and free verse of prominent writers from Andhra Pradesh for the western readers.

In the late 19th century Virginia Woolf stated that women writers did not succeed in writing and publishing for lack of a room of their own and economic resources. In the later years American establishment reaffirmed this claim. In recent times prominent Indian writers like Kamala Das and Anita Das made similar statements. In fact Kamala Das went further and said that the sister of Rabindranath Tagore did not receive the same acclaim as Tagore because she was a woman.

  I am not contradicting any of these claims. My intention here is to show that the position of women writers in Andhra Pradesh was very different.
In 1960s Telugu women started writing and publishing fiction, rose to heights unheard of, were more successful than their male counterparts, were paid higher than male writers and got contracts from publishers without submitting their work. Among them writers like Malathi Chendur, Lata, Ranganayakamma, Sulochana Rani, Vasireddy Sitadevi, Ramalakshmi Arudra and Bhanumati Ramakrishna stand out for their contribution. Each
of them found a medium in which they showed superior talent. To my knowledge this is an unusual phenomenon in any part of India or in any other country.

   In all humbleness I submit that I am a writer of that generation. I am acquianted with some of them and a great fan of few others.

  It is with that thought in mind, I launched this venture-- to present to the English reading public the translations of Telugu writers of repute and a brief account of their experiences in their own words and from other interviews..

   One of my good friends Prof. B. Bhaskar Rao has kindly invited me to join the editorial board of  e-Telugu Patrika. Together we decided that e-Telugu Patrika publishes the Telugu originals and Thulika publishes the English version. Thus readers with limited knowledge of Telugu can take advantage of appreciating the native flavor.

  Starting September 2001, Thulika will start with those women writers who have created a sensation in the 60s, and will continue to publish stories by other prominent Telugu writers.

   Hope you will enjoy this edition. I am putting out this edition as a pilot issue with only my writings. I thought it would be safe and
should help in fixing any neonatal problems I might encounter.

I appreciate your comments and suggestions. nidnmalathi@isp.com

Nidadavolu Malathi
June 2001.