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Poorna Swami is a writer, translator, researcher, and choreographer from Bangalore, India. 

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She writes on arts & culture, literature, and politics. Her essays and reportage have been published by The New York Review of Books, Equator, Lux,  London Review of Books Blog, The Caravan, Open, and Mint-Lounge. Her poetry has appeared in journals such as Indiana Review, Hayden's Ferry Review, Indian Quarterly, and Prelude.

 

Between 2015-2017 Poorna served as the India Editor-at-large  for the international online quarterly Asymptote, and co-edited the journal's first special feature on Indian-language poetry in English translation. She has also received the 2023 Jawad Memorial Prize,  a 2024 ALTA Emerging Translators Mentorship, and a 2026 PENxSALT Translates award for her translations from Urdu. 

 

At the age of seven, Poorna began training in the classical Indian dance form Bharatanatyam, before extending her training to contemporary dance and post-modern techniques. Her choreographic projects frequently cross disciplines but are anchored in investigations of the body, sound, and notions of history.  Her works have shown both in India and the United States, most recently at G5A Foundation for Contemporary Culture, 1 Shanthi Road Studio/Gallery, Chatterjee & Lal, and Serendipity Arts Festival. 

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Poorna holds a BA in English and Dance-Theatre from Mount Holyoke College. She is currently pursuing a PhD in South Asian Studies and Studies of Women, Gender & Sexuality at Harvard University.