Dr. Papineni Sivasankar (born 1953), a doyen of Modern Literature in Telugu, recipient of Sahitya Akademi Award, 2016[1] is an Indian poet, short story writer, and critic.

His notable works are Rajani Gandha (2013), Matti Gunde (Heart of the Soil 1992) Sahityam-Moulika Bhavanalu (Literature-Basic Concepts 1996) and Talli!

Dr. Papineni's greatness as a poet lies in his vibrant expression, fertile imagination, grandeur of thought and finest human sensibility.

His short stories reflect the struggles of farmers, the impact of globalisation on villages in general, and the unrest and distress of human beings in particular.

And with his insights in sociological theories he evolved many a concept like Avicchinnata (Continuity), Nisargata (Spontaneity), Parayitanam (Alienation) to analyze modern Telugu literature.