Upasna Barath joins Shelf

Substack warrior, author of Comedic Timing, and certified HAIM stan Upasna Barath is equal parts tenderness and sharpness. A self-aware narrator who grew up adapting cartoons into novellas, she now crafts worlds that are as intimate as they are expansive. Upasna glides between genres like it’s second nature, forming short stories, screenplays, and poignant Substack essays, and yet through it all, remains unflinchingly honest. I learned in conversation that Upasna is deeply committed to honesty over performance. Her writing doesn’t chase attention; it builds trust. Whether she’s unpacking Britt Marling’s genius, The OA, or drawing creative blood from Lorde’s lyrics, Barath approaches her work—and her life—with an inspiring combination of precision and self-interrogation. What follows are highlights from our delightful conversation about her career, some of the different media that has shaped her writing, and more. Read along for the full interview and be sure to follow Upasna on Shelf for real-time updates into what she’s consuming.

ShelfMAG: Looking back, are there any moments from your childhood or adolescence that you feel foreshadowed the kind of writer you would become?

@upasnabarath: Yeah, I do think so. I read this book called Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech. And that was the first time I read a young adult novel that felt weirdly mature in a way. And it was the first time I read a book that felt incredibly real. I was reading a lot of fantasy and a lot of escapism when it came to how I consumed art. So reading something that was less escapist and more cathartic and relatable—because, you know, it's about a mom and daughter relationship and grief—was sort of the turning point for me. 

But, you know, even before that, I've been writing since I was six. One of the first things I remember doing is watching an episode of Tom & Jerry when I was like, eight. And I loved it. I loved writing so much because I would make up stories. I was like, “I'm gonna adapt.” I didn't know what an adaptation was, so I didn't use this terminology, but I wanted to make a story version of [Tom & Jerry]. I wanted people to see what I saw, but in words. I actually have it. It's like, stapled together. Do you want to see it? 

ShelfMAG: Yes! I'd love to see it. That's such a special artifact to have.

@upasnabarath: I'm so happy that I kept it. So it's “Tom and Jerry and the little duck”.

ShelfMAG: Oh, my God. You wrote pages!

@upasnabarath: I was only seven. I was in the third grade, I believe, so I must have been.

ShelfMAG: Debut novel.

@upasnabarath: This was the debut. Everyone's like, oh, Comedic Timing, the debut. I'm like, what are you talking about? It’s this!

ShelfMAG: I think it's so special that you knew how to put those urges into practice at such a young age. I don't think at six or seven years old, I would have had that skillset or the knowledge to just take action in that way 

@upasnabarath: Only child sitting in my room. I guess I just wanted the feeling of creating the same thing I was consuming. 

ShelfMAG: Can you talk about a time when consuming a specific piece of media, be it a show, a movie, a book, a meme, anything fundamentally shifted the way you think about writing or creating as a whole?

@upasnabarath: It's two things. There was a shift in a way that I felt was kind of bad, and then there was a shift that sort of redirected me. When I started writing for Rookie Mag, I had a shift in a direction that I felt wasn't the best for my craft. I wrote about this actually for my Substack, Lifeline, today. I just became very caught up in the idea of being a writer and the industry, and so my approach to writing became less intimate.

I think a lot of it was getting praise for the first time and not really being sure what to do with that. I'd only ever gotten praised by my mom and my teachers, so having people my own age tell me they liked me or liked my work…I was being viewed in a way that was different for the first time by people my own age. I was so just hyper-focused on outcomes versus process. I was so focused on how I wanted people to view me that I wasn't thinking about “what is the story I want to tell?” I was thinking, “what is a story I need to write for people to see me this way.” So I lost a little bit of that magic and I regained it when I watched this TV show called The OA.

It's by this woman named Brit Marling. We have a little bit of similar pivots where we're both very creative people, but we went to college and we both studied economics. She went and worked on Wall Street. I thought I was going to go some similar route, but after a point, you're like, “I don't want to be unhappy. I have to do what's right for me.” And so she made this TV show called The OA, which is a sci-fi show. I don't watch sci fi, I don't read sci fi that often, but what I loved about the show was that it was unlike anything I'd ever seen before.

I could tell that it was coming from her heart and it was coming from a very deep place inside of her that she was able to unearth because she wasn't worried about outcomes and she wasn't worried about other people. She was worried about, like, the catharsis. And that changed a lot for me. It changed my approach to writing. It made me more interested in screenwriting. It also made me more interested in producing, because the reason the show's so good is because there isn't a writer's room. There's only two writers, her and her best friend. And that unfettered quality is just so interesting to me, and it helped me a lot.

ShelfMAG: I will definitely be adding this to my Shelf in the near future, I can tell you that.

@upasnabarath: I'm sorry to say it got canceled after the second season. Everyone's enraged, and Zendaya's in the second season.

ShelfMAG: What's a book you wish you could read again for the very first time?

@upasnabarath: The one that I feel like I am most called to talk about is A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan. I love this book because it's one of those books that reorients your relationship to time–either temporarily for when you're reading it, or in a larger way like it did for me. Every chapter is about a different character, but all the characters are connected and they're all connected over a period of time—I think up to 30 years. These characters’ lives are explored, and their relationships, and what really connects them all is also their relationship to music and the music industry. It's a very New York novel. There's just so much commentary on it about ambition and relationships and self-betrayal, but also empowerment. It's just a really fantastic book. It made me really hopeful for my future because it reminded me that there are things that will happen in the future that I have no idea about, and I have no idea how I may have touched someone else's life, and that grandness—that zooming out relaxes me.

ShelfMAG: It brings you back down to earth.

@upasnabarath: Yes, a very grounding book.

ShelfMAG: If you had to define this current chapter of your life with a song or an album, what would it be and why?

@upasnabarath: Wow, I love this question. I kind of want to know your answer too. I really do. For a song, I would say “Bravado” by Lorde. It's a deeper cut. I remember the first time I really heard it, I actually had just started writing for Rookie. I was really excited for my future and I was getting my blood drawn for college, and I was really scared of needles. And the nurse was like, “do you want to lay back and listen to music?” And I listened to “Bravado” by Lorde and I had such an amazing experience listening to that song at that moment. I felt like I was doing a very human thing. I mean, it's a song about being someone who's a little bit more withdrawn or introverted and not afraid of other people seeing them, but then also being someone who has a gift and something to share with the world, and having to reconcile both of those things so you can put your art out there. 

There's a line in there where she says “I'm gonna find my own bravado,” and I just think that's just so freaking inspiring. That's how I feel right now because I just had a book published, and I got to work on this amazing short story for Hinge, and I'm just getting more comfortable in my career as a writer, but that also means that there are things about myself that I need to embrace and not be afraid of showing anymore. Tell me your song, and maybe an album might come up in my head.

ShelfMAG: My instinct, my gut is telling me it's “In Your Own Home” by Cleo Sol. I chose that song specifically because over the past two years, I've moved like six times. New York is very new to me. I've lived here just under a year, and I feel like the past two months specifically, I've started to feel like this can be a place that I can call home and feel comfortable enough to feel confident in day to day. 

The opening lyric is “don't you ever be afraid in your own home” and it's something I'm trying to remind myself every day because this is my home now. I'm no longer a stranger or a tourist walking through the streets. That's the era I'm in.

@upasnabarath: I love that so much. And I love that you picked Cleo Sol because she's one of the people that I've also been listening to a lot. I feel very safe listening to her, like everything's going to be okay. For my album—this album actually hasn't come out yet, but I love the title and I love the singles that have come out. It's called I Quit by Haim.

ShelfMAG: We LOVE Haim here.

@upasnabarath: I quit my job recently—my full time job. So when I saw the album name I was like, “I know this is something good.” I love “Down to be wrong”, I love “Relationships”. “Relationships” is my song of the summer. I love it.

ShelfMAG: It's so good. What item on your shelf do you think is most likely to stay there forever?

@upasnabarath: Wow, that is so hard. It's like when you were the kid that felt bad for giving one stuffed animal more attention than the other. Like, you cannot answer this question. This question's impossible. It's not in my nature. I really freaking love the song and I've loved it since I was a kid— “Teardrop” by Massive Attack.

ShelfMAG: I don't know that song.

@upasnabarath: Oh, you should listen to it. You would love it. It’s just such an atmospheric song. I would say the feeling that A Visit from the Goon Squad gives me is the feeling that “Teardrop” gives me in that it grounds me, but it also takes me out of whatever headspace I'm in, and reminds me of this grander sense of aliveness. You should listen to it. It's a good one if you need an intense moment.

Curious about what else Upasna is into? Get real-time updates at shelf.im/upasnabarath