Anushka Bidani is a poet, essayist, & cultural strategist from India. She’s the Editor-in-Chief & Founder at Headcanon Magazine, an international & independent publishing project with a fondness for fandoms & folklores. In the past, her work has appeared in The Telegraph, OpenAxis, The Teatles Book, amongst others; & has twice been nominated for Best of the Net. She likes thinking & writing about digital culture, pop culture, & fan culture — & attempts to articulate her opinions (& stories!) here. She also pays occasional odes to her first fandom, One Direction, in her Headcanon Magazine column a.m.

Anushka was born in 2001 (b. New Delhi). She speaks English, Hindi, & French. She likes rainy evenings & virgin mojitos. You can get in touch with her at bidanianushka@gmail.com.

POEMS

love letter to “studies in film: the queer eye ENG-3501-1” | Farrago Magazine, Creative Writing Anthology: Above Water (2025, in print) & Violet Indigo Blue, Etc. (2021)
“Please Please Me” • The Beatles | Major 7th Magazine, Literary Mixtape Vol. 18 (2024)
4 poems | The Sunflower Collective \ Editor’s note (2024)
silver linings / unleash | HOLYFLEA!, Pop-Up Issue: Dream Journal (2021)
little bird | Dream Noir (2019)
Samaira | Marías at Sampaguitas (2019) | Nominated for the Best of the Net Anthology
Violets | Royal Rose Magazine (2019)

FICTION

Deewani | Archive of Our Own (AO3) (2021)
he felt infinite | Nightingale & Sparrow, Issue III: heat (2019)

ESSAYS

Watching Bigg Boss in the Time of COVID | Fanhackers x Organization for Transformative Works (OTW), Fandom Friendships Zine (2025)
Put It There, The Teatles Book: Issue IX (2021, in print)
16 December, 2012 | Teen Belle Magazine, Issue I: Catharsis (2019) | Nominated for the Best of the Net Anthology

CULTURE

Miles To Go | TBWA\India (2025)
Teen Titans: Warp-speeding through life | TBWA\India (2024)
The Hall Of Mirrors: Reflections And Ruptures In “Bajirao Mastani” | Ayaskala, Issue VII: Returning The Gaze (2024)
Quoted in Bollywood Mythmaking in Om Shanti Om | by Paridhi Puri, Opium of the Masses (2023)
From Ashoka to Shark Tank: Sparsh Agarwal’s Tasteful Journey | Ashoka University (2023)
Bean There, Drank That | Headcanon Magazine, Issue I: spill the beans (2022)
Walt Whitman – The Artist And The Legacy | Big Red Education (2022)
Remo D’Souza: The Man Who Changed the Face of Indian Dance | OpenAxis, Issue X (2021)

SPORTS

How ‘Gully Gully’ provides a personal, fan-centric recap of the 2023 ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup | The Telegraph (2025)
Bleeding blue(s): The paradoxical experience of being an Indian cricket fan | The Telegraph (2024)
We Are The Champions: ABA 4.0! | The Edict (2019)

BRANDS

Rangon Ka Khel 2.0 | JSW Paints (2025)
#AajMeinJiyo with Retirement Fund | Bandhan Mutual Fund (2024)
Body Ki Bhaasha Jo Chhaa Jaaye | Dixcy Scott (2024)

WEBSITES

Bingo! | Created with readymag (2025)

Anushka Bidani

selected

works