Vaishnavi Pusapati
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Vaishnavi Pusapati is an Indian physician, clinical researcher, poet and writer. Her literary practice encompasses poetry, haiku, microfiction, concrete poetry, literary essays and criticism. Her work has appeared in literary journals and anthologies in India and internationally. She has also worked as a literary reviewer, competition judge, workshop facilitator and public reader. Her literary work has been covered by Indian newspapers and literary publications, particularly in connection with the intersection of medicine, science and literature.
Life and career
Pusapati trained as a physician and developed her literary practice alongside her professional work in medicine and clinical research. She writes primarily in English and has worked in several literary forms, including free verse, haiku, concrete poetry, monostich and microfiction.
Her literary practice developed at the intersection of medicine, scientific observation and creative writing. She has described haiku as influencing her approach to observation and compression, and her writing has addressed subjects including illness, grief, science, human relationships and social experience.[1]
In April 2026, The Hindu profiled Pusapati as a Bengaluru-based physician-poet and examined her engagement with haiku and the relationship between her medical background and literary practice.[2]
In January 2026, The New Indian Express published a feature titled "Wounds to Words", examining Pusapati's development as a writer alongside her medical career.
The Haiku Foundation subsequently published an essay about Pusapati's discovery of haiku and the relationship between her medical experience and literary practice.[1]
Literary practice
Pusapati's literary work spans conventional and experimental forms. Her poetry includes free verse and short-form poetry alongside haiku and concrete poetry, while her prose work includes microfiction and literary essays.
Her poetry has appeared in publications including Dreich Quarterly Review, Drabble, Prole, InkPantry, The Heron's Nest, Bare Hill Review, Poetry Breakfast, Redrosethorns, Spillwords, The Brussels Review, Haiku Universe, Havik, Litbreak, Shot Glass, Five Minutes, Friday Flash Fiction, Autumn Moon Haiku Journal, Cold Moon Journal, Microfiction Monday, Wingless Dreamer, Poets for Science, Poetry for Mental Health, Poetry X Hunger, Poetry Potion, London Poetry Magazine, Under the Bashō, Roanoke Review, B O D Y literature journal, Meniscus, Tyger Tyger Poetry Magazine, The Indianapolis Review, South Florida Poetry Journal, Icebox Haiku Journal, Leaf Haiku Journal and Presence Haiku Journal.[3]
Her published poems include "Empty Spaces", "The Hounding Dark", "Birds that Cannot Fly", "Deadman's Shoes: A Nonnet", "Ice and Paracetamol", "Fairy Tales", "She Walks in Liberty, Not Her Own", "Rites of Passage", "The Watchers in the Rye", "After the Rain, There Will Be Rainbows", "Tahrish", "While Manipur Was Burning", "Death Has a New Address", "Transformations", "Mother, Mother", "Shores", "Flowers for Ophelia", "Breathing in Pauses", "Copper Sulfate Sky", "The Sea Is Sick, My Ferrymen", "How to Cook Grief Properly", "The Units of Grief", "A Series of Bad Days", "Two Leaves and a Bud", "Missing People", "Cloud Hills", "Something Wicked, This Way Goes", "In a Fit of Sadness", "The Mellowing", "Like a Sunflower" and "An Unusual Superpower".
Her haiku have appeared in specialist publications including The Heron's Nest, Autumn Moon Haiku Journal, Cold Moon Journal, Haiku Universe, Under the Bashō, Haiku Shack Magazine, Icebox Haiku Journal and Leaf. She is listed as a poet in the Living Haiku Anthology and the Haiku Registry.[4]
Her concrete poetry includes "Home" and "Something Wicked, This Way Goes". Her microfiction has appeared in publications including Molecule, 50-Word Stories, Five Minutes and Friday Flash Fiction.
In an interview with Haiku Poet Interviews, Pusapati described the influence of haiku on her microfiction, particularly its emphasis on economy, compression and close observation.[5]
Medicine and literature
The relationship between medicine and literature is a recurring element of Pusapati's literary practice. Her professional background has informed writing concerned with science, illness, suffering, observation and human experience.
Her essay "What Makes a Contemporary Science Poem?" was published in Consilience, an interdisciplinary journal. Her work has also appeared in science- and social-justice-oriented literary publications, including Poets for Science and Poetry for Mental Health.
The Haiku Foundation's essay "Living Poetry: A Physician's Collision with Haiku" specifically examines her development as a haiku poet in relation to her experience as a physician.[1]
Her science-oriented poetry has also been presented publicly. In April 2026, her poem "Cheers to Science" was performed in Seattle by the Infinity Box Theatre Project as part of a science-poetry event. News Karnataka reported on the performance, and the report was subsequently syndicated through Dailyhunt.
Anthologies and IHRAM Press
Pusapati's writing has appeared in literary anthologies as well as individual journals.
Her work has been published by IHRAM Press, the literary publishing arm of the International Human Rights Art Movement. IHRAM Press publishes poetry, short fiction and essays through its literary magazine and anthology programme, with publications addressing human-rights, identity and social-justice themes.[6]
Pusapati has been published in the IHRAM literary programme among international writers. She was also invited for an author interview for the IHRAM Literary Magazine where she talks about her inspirations and influences.[7]
IHRAM Press's anthology programme includes collections dealing with human-rights and social themes. The press describes its publications as bringing together writers from different countries and perspectives.[8]
Pusapati also contributed to All the World's a Page: Shakespeare Sonnet Anthology, published by Quillkeepers Press in 2026.
Her writing has appeared in the Living Haiku Anthology and the Haiku Registry.[9]
Her debut haiku collection, Afterlife, was announced as forthcoming from Hawakal Publishers in 2026.
Editorial and literary work
Pusapati's literary activity extends beyond her own creative writing into reviewing, judging, teaching and literary criticism.
She has served as a poetry reviewer for Consilience and as a reader or judge for literary and youth-writing initiatives. Her activities have included assessing submissions, providing editorial feedback and participating in literary selection.
She was invited to participate in peer review for Meridians, a journal published by Duke University Press.
Her haiku have also received independent critical commentary through Haiku Commentary, where three of her poems were selected for discussion.[10]
Teaching and public literary work
Pusapati has conducted workshops involving poetry, haiku and blackout poetry. In February 2026, she led a workshop on blackout poetry and haiku through Urbanaut and AttaGalatta Bookstore.[11]
She has also participated in literary panels and workshops involving contemporary English poetry and haiku.
Her poetry has been presented at literary readings and performances in the United States. She participated in poetry readings associated with the Las Positas College Literary Arts Festival in 2023 and 2024, and her work has also been featured in readings through literary publications.
Awards and recognition
Pusapati won the Beyond Words Microfiction Contest in 2024.
She received first place in the Grantchester Award for "What Survives Winter" in the Winter 2025 issue of The Orchards Poetry Journal.[12]
Her poem "The Cabal", published in Vermillion at The Catholic University of America, received the publication's first prize.
She was shortlisted for the Welkin Genre Prize for "The Night of the Fireflies", which was subsequently published by Welkin Press.
She was a finalist in the Gotham Writers Workshop 2025 A Long Winter's Night contest.
Her work was included on the longlist for the 2025 Touchstone Award for Individual Poems, selected from 1,501 nominations from 252 poets across 35 countries.[13]
Her work has also been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net anthology.
Media coverage
Pusapati has been the subject of profiles, interviews and feature articles in literary publications and Indian media.
In addition to the The Hindu and New Indian Express coverage, eShe published "Living poetry: a physician's collision with haiku", examining her engagement with haiku and the relationship between poetry and medicine.[14]
Spillwords published a "Spotlight On Writers" feature concerning Pusapati's literary work.[15]
Haiku Poet Interviews published an interview focused on her work as a haiku poet.[16]
Early recognition
Pusapati's involvement with writing predates her later literary publications. In 2010, she was a national-level winner of the Times of India–MetLife "I Want to be an Editor" competition. A Times of India article published on 4 January 2010 listed her among the "Dauntless Dozen", who were selected to meet former President of India A. P. J. Abdul Kalam and actor Aamir Khan in Mumbai. The article identified painting, poetry and reading among her interests at the time.[17]
She subsequently won a state-level elocution competition in 2011.
Selected publications
- Dreich Quarterly Review
- Drabble
- Prole
- The Heron's Nest
- Bare Hill Review
- Poetry Breakfast
- Redrosethorns
- The Brussels Review
- Roanoke Review
- Under the Bashō
- Haiku Universe
- South Florida Poetry Journal
- Meniscus
- B O D Y literature
- IHRAM Press Literary Magazine
- Living Haiku Anthology
- All the World's a Page: Shakespeare Sonnet Anthology
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Kelsey, Julie Bloss (15 February 2026). "Living Poetry: A Physician's Collision with Haiku—An Essay by Dr. Vaishnavi Pusapati". The Haiku Foundation. Retrieved 14 August 2026.
- ↑ Zachariah, Preeti (28 April 2026). "Meet this Bengaluru-based physician-poet who loves haiku". The Hindu. Retrieved 14 August 2026.
- ↑ "The Living Haiku Anthology – Pusapati, Vaishnavi". Living Haiku Anthology. Retrieved 14 August 2026.
- ↑ "The Living Haiku Anthology – Pusapati, Vaishnavi". Living Haiku Anthology. Retrieved 14 August 2026.
- ↑ Salzer, Jacob D. (1 February 2026). "Vaishnavi Pusapati". Haiku Poet Interviews. Retrieved 14 August 2026.
- ↑ "About IHRAM Press". International Human Rights Art Movement. Retrieved 14 August 2026.
- ↑ "About IHRAM Press". International Human Rights Art Movement. Retrieved 14 August 2026.
- ↑ "About IHRAM Press". International Human Rights Art Movement. Retrieved 14 August 2026.
- ↑ "The Living Haiku Anthology – Pusapati, Vaishnavi". Living Haiku Anthology. Retrieved 14 August 2026.
- ↑ Klacsanzky, Nicholas (19 September 2025). "Haiku by Robert Witmer, Mona Bedi, and Vaishnavi Pusapati". Haiku Commentary. Retrieved 14 August 2026.
- ↑ "Blackout Poetry & Haiku: A Creative Workshop". Urbanaut. Retrieved 14 August 2026.
- ↑ "Award Winners". The Orchards Poetry Journal. Retrieved 14 August 2026.
- ↑ Markworth, Matthew (3 April 2026). "2025 Touchstone Awards for Individual Poems — Long List". The Haiku Foundation. Retrieved 14 August 2026.
- ↑ "Living poetry: a physician's collision with haiku". eShe. 5 December 2025. Retrieved 14 August 2026.
- ↑ "Spotlight On Writers – Vaishnavi Pusapati". Spillwords. 27 December 2025. Retrieved 14 August 2026.
- ↑ Salzer, Jacob D. (1 February 2026). "Vaishnavi Pusapati". Haiku Poet Interviews. Retrieved 14 August 2026.
- ↑ "Meet the Dauntless Dozen". The Times of India. 4 January 2010. Retrieved 14 August 2026.
External links
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