Megha is a queer writer of poetry and prose from Bangalore, India who works in philanthropy and enjoys walking, cooking, diving, and word games.
In addition to writing, Megha is also a teacher and workshop facilitator in contemporary poetry. In 2023, they taught a weekly module for undergraduates in Liberal Arts at Azim Premji University and a class that was open to students across levels, including many MA students. They have also designed and run custom workshops for The Queer Writers’ Room supported by the U.S. Consulate, Mumbai; and Giggling with Earth, a contemporary eco-poetry course for scientists supported by departments across the University of Oxford.
In 2022, they were a member of the UK x India Poetry Exchange facilitated by the Queer Muslim Project and VERVE Poetry Festival. This project was supported by the British Council’s Season of Culture and Megha performed along with the group at the BBC Contains Strong Language Festival in Birmingham (September 2022) and at TATA Lit Live in Mumbai (November 2022).
She largely writes poetry in free-verse but enjoys working with shape and word-play forms (like Terrance Haye’s Gram of &s). She is also a big fan of haiku and is always keen to learn new form. They have been on the Barbican Young Poets programme (2015-2017), and performed poetry in spaces including the Tate Modern Gallery, Southbank Centre, Birmingham Hippodrome, and Cambridge Fitzwilliam Museum.
After a BA in Liberal Arts (with a major in politics and minor in colonial history), she did an MPhil in South Asian Studies at the University of Cambridge. Their dissertation was a collective biography of three Indian women scientists from the 1900s.
Their creative and academic work has been published on a range of platforms in India and the UK, including harana poetry, Notes (Cambridge), Queerabad’s Tilt, the mush newsletter, Gaysi, and The Life of Science.
(Megha is comfortable with the use of any pronouns)
Megha Harish 