Viswanatha Satyanarayana popularly known as the Kavi Samraat was a modern Telugu poet. Viswanatha's style of poetry was classical in nature and his popular works include Ramayana Kalpa Vrukshamu (A resourceful tree called Ramayana), Kinnersani patalu (Mermaid songs) and Veyipadagalu (The Thousand Hoods). Viswanatha was born on September 10, 1895. He was born in Nandamuru, Madras state British India (now Andhra Pradesh). After his schooling in the village, Satyanarayana had his early education at the National College, Machilipatnam. He obtained the masters degree in Sanskrit from the University of Madras in 1929. During his stay at Machilipatam, he came under the influence of Chellapilla Venkata Sastry, Pingali Lakshmikantam, Kota Venkata Chelam and Katuri Venkateswara Rao. He began writing at the age of 14. 

Viswanatha's literary works includes 30 poems, 20 plays, 60 novels, 10 critical estimates, 200 Khand kavyas, 35 short stories, three playlets, 70 essays, 50 radio plays, 10 essays in English, 10 works is Sanskrit, three translations, 100 introductions and forewords as well as radio talks. Some of his poems and novels have been translated into English, Hindi, Tamil, Malayalam, Urdu and Sanskrit. Veyipadagalu was later translated into Hindi by former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao as Sahasraphan. He was awarded the Jnanpith Award and Padma Bhushan in 1970.