P Lankesh was born in 1935. A post graduate in English, Lankesh served as Lecturer in Mysore University.

Lankesh was a highly acclaimed and powerful writer. His short stories, novels, plays and criticisms were very popular.  His works like Sankranti, Teregalu,  Tale danda etc gave him a good standing in the Kannada literary world.  In early 70’s he had launched a Kannada weekly  Lankesh Patrike which mostly catered to intellectuals, with focus on social and political issues. Lankesh was a multifaceted personality. As a writer, actor, playwright, dramatist, director, he was honoured with awards and was felicitated in many literary functions.  His film titled Pallavi won him Rashtra Prashasti State Award . His book Kallu Karaguva Samaya, a short story collection, won Sahitya Akademi Award.

He passed away in 2000.