Dr. L. Hanumanthaiah

Dr. L. Hanumanthaiah was born to Lankappa and Channamma in Rameswaram Village on 10th June 1958. He married Vijayambaike H. in 1984 and was blessed with two children.

From 1984 to 1987, he taught degree courses at Ambedkar Evening College in Bangalore. Later, in 1999-2000, he served as visiting faculty at the Post Graduate Centre, Channapatna, affiliated with Bangalore University. He has been broadcasting for the past 25 years on All India Radio, covering various centres including Bangalore, Bhadravathi, Hassan, and Mangalore.

His work also extends to television, where he has appeared on Doordarshan Kendra in Bangalore, as well as private channels like Udaya, City Channel, and Star Plus, participating in literary and socio-cultural programs.

Furthermore, he has contributed as a contributing editor on current affairs for prominent newspapers such as Prajavani, Kannada Prabha, and Janavahini, as well as literary journals like Hosathu and Bhavana.

He was nominated to the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of the Indian parliament from Karnataka in 2022 as an Indian National Congress.

He serves as a member of several committees including the Committee on the Welfare of Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, the General Purposes Committee, and the Committee on Petitions. Additionally, he has been nominated to the Panel of Vice-Chairpersons. He has actively participated in numerous literary events and seminars throughout the years. This includes presenting at the Seminar on Dalith Literature at Mysore University in 1988, participating in the State Bandaya Literary Conference at Bagalkot in 1990, and inaugurating the North Karnataka Bandaya Sahitya Conference in 1992.

In 1994, he directed a four-day workshop on Kannada Short Stories organized by Karnataka Sahitya Academy and delivered the Kuvempu University Endowment Lecture in Challakere. He has also been involved in national seminars such as those in Delhi in 1996 and Mumbai in 1999, as well as South Indian Poets Meets in various locations.

Additionally, his poems have been included in prestigious anthologies by Karnataka Sahitya Academy and Central Sahitya Academy. Moreover, he has delivered lectures at literary conferences and the annual All India Kannada Sahitya Sammelanas held across Karnataka. As a poet, he has published several works including "Kappu Kannina Hudugi" (Black-eyed Girl) in 1990, "Avva" (Mother) in 1995, "Avvana Kavithe" (Mother’s Poem), "Akshara Aksharave" (Oh’ Letters! My Letters!) in 2001, and "Karna Raaga" (Karna’s Agony) in 2007.

With a rich history of service in various esteemed committees, he has been an integral member of the Script Approval Committee at Doordarshan Kendra, Bangalore, from 2000 to 2007. His expertise extended to academia as an esteemed Academic Council Member at Bangalore University from 2002 to 2005.

Additionally, his contributions to Kannada literature and language were recognized on a national level through appointments to the Kannada Advisory Board at the Central Sahitya Academy, New Delhi, from 2003 to 2007, and the National Book Trust, New Delhi, in 2004. Apart from writing poetry, he has an interest in drama too. His play, "Ambedkar," was staged in Bangalore, Bellary, Tumku Chitradurga, and other parts of Karnataka in 1998.