Devarakonda Balagangadhara Tilak is best known for his posthumous collection of poems Amrutham Kurisina ratri, ("The Night When Nectar Rained") published in 1969. This book won the Andhra Pradesh state Sahitaya Academy Award and Central Government Sahitaya Akademy Award in 1970. The volume has been called a "milestone in modern Telugu" by Sisir Kumar Das, who added, "But for him, 'verse libre' or 'prose poetry' could not have gained so much of popularity."

His collection of short stories include Sundari-SubbaRavu, Vuri Chivara Illu and Tilak Kadhalu. His stories were influenced by Maxim Gorky and Rabindranath Tagore.