Born in Madras, India, Padma Hejmadi has published poetry, nonfiction, and two books of collected fiction under the name of Padma Perera. Her work has appeared in The New Yorker, Parabola, and elsewhere, with essays translated into French by Initiations, Belgium. She is represented in several anthologies of international literature and women's writing, as well as in Salman Rushdie's Mirrorwork: 50 Years of Indian Writing, 1947-1997. As a photographer and visual artist, Hejmadi's work in both fields has been exhibited in solo and group shows in Seattle, California, and Hawaii, and is included in private collections in the US, Japan, and New Zealand. Hejmadi received her BA honors degree from the University of Delhi and her MA degree from the University of Michigan. She has given readings and seminars at Vassar, Columbia, and the Rhode Island School of Design, among others, and taught for some years at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and at Colorado College. In 2001 she was made codirector of The New Pacific Studio (California and New Zealand), fostering exchange programs between artists of the Pacific Rim.
