Short Bio

Shoba Narayan is the author of six books.

As a journalist and columnist, she writes about travel, food, culture, nature and relationships for national and international publications. She is recipient of a James Beard Award and the 2025 Erbacce Prize for Poetry.

Shoba is interested in Indian aesthetics– and has researched its influence on jewellery, music, textiles and scents. She founded and co-created two websites: Project LooM documents the weaving traditions of India, and Jewels of India documents India’s jewellery history and motifs.

As an avid bird-watcher, Shoba also anchors the Bird Podcast.

Shoba has taught and lectured at universities in India and serves on the board of Neev Academy, Industree Foundation, and Natya Institute of Kathak & Choreography.

She has a B.A. in psychology from Women’s Christian College, Chennai; a diploma in Fine Arts from Mount Holyoke College; a Master’s in Fine Art (MFA) from University of Memphis (ABD); and an MS from Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism (which awarded her a Pulitzer Fellowship).

Her lifelong mission is to get fit without exercising and lose weight without dieting.