About

Puja Changoiwala is an award-winning journalist and author

of three books — Homebound, Gangster on the Run, and The Front Page Murders. A critically acclaimed writer of both fiction and non-fiction, she has won over a dozen Indian and international awards for her work.

Puja is drawn to stories that spotlight lives on the bladed fringes of Indian society — from the sewer divers of Mumbai to the water-starved villages of Odisha to those riding the 'Internet Express' trains in Kashmir. Over 50 publications around the world have published her reportage, essays, and think pieces, including the BBC, CNN, The Guardian, The Hindu, The Washington Post, National Geographic, Al Jazeera, Scientific American, VICE, and Foreign Policy.

A former fellow with the Global Investigative Journalism Network, Puja has also been a fellow with the Iceland Writers Retreat in Reykjavik, an international resident with the Moniack Mhor Creative Writing Centre in Scotland, and a 2024-25 author in residence with the University of Lorraine, France. She's also a recipient of several other awards, honours, and fellowships, including the following:

British Council's Study UK Alumni Award, 2023.
South Asian Journalists' Association (SAJA) Journalism Award, 2022.
American Society of Journalists and Authors (ASJA) Writing Award, 2022.
Journalism for an Equitable Asia Merit Award, 2022.
International Centre for Journalists’ Covid-19 Reporting Award, 2021.
Red Ink Merit Award for Excellence in Indian Journalism, 2019.
Laadli Media Award for Gender Sensitivity, 2018.
Westminster Alumni Award - Outstanding Achievement, 2018.

Puja has been a speaker at major journalism and literature events around the world, including the International Journalism Festival in Italy, the Kala Ghoda Arts Festival in Mumbai, the Ullapool Book Festival in Scotland, and the Lagos International Poetry Festival in Nigeria. A creative writing tutor, who has taught at several Indian and foreign institutions, two of Puja's three books are currently being adapted for the screen.

Interviewed for audio and video documentaries by platforms like Netflix, VICE, and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, over thirty publications have written countless articles about Puja’s work, describing her as a ‘storyteller of history’, and her writing as both ‘powerful’ and ‘humane’.