Padma Venkatraman

Padma Venkatraman was in residence at the Hanse Wissenschaftskolleg from June through July 2018, as well as December 2018 through January 2019 and July through September 2019.

Before beginning her career as a fiction writer, Padma Venkatraman obtained a doctorate in oceanography and worked for many years as a researcher. She is the author of four award-winning young adult novels: The Bridge Home, A Time to Dance, Island's End, and Climbing the Stairs.

At the HWK, Padma began work on her first adult novel—or memoir—which will also, for the first time, incorporate her knowledge and experience as a woman scientist in India, where she grew up, and the United States, where she immigrated at nineteen. Padma has lived in five countries, but lives and works in Rhode Island with her husband and daughter.