For poets, it doesn’t take much to say much. But using your words in a way that’s both and aesthetic (not to say, Instagramable), is a much greater challenge.
Luckily for us, we came across Pavana Reddy. With a following of over 85,000 on Instagram alone, Reddy gets the message across. Her words (short and sweet) weave together emotions of love, ache, and loss, using colorful imagery that leaves you wanting more.
A South Indian, Los Angeles based poet and songwriter, Reddy is most well-known for her first book of poetry, Rangoli, as well as a song called “Remain the Sea,” written for the critically acclaimed album Land of Gold by Anoushka Shankar.
“Before I took my work to Instagram, I was posting my work on Tumblr under the pseudo-name ‘maza dohta,’ which is a reference from the novel 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami,” she recalled in an interview with Rattle.
“I used Tumblr for a few years before taking my work to Instagram—I had seen other writers doing the same thing and decided to just give it a try. About two months into using Instagram, my childhood hero, Anoushka Shankar, emailed me asking if I would be interested in writing her a poem for her new album, Land of Gold.”
From there, the road to virality was paved. “It’s cool to see different mediums that people have been putting poetry in,” says Reddy. “Even brands and the way they want to incorporate poetry. It’s definitely opening up a world of writing for me, and I’m thinking more about screenplays and short stories. I like the idea of turning a poem into a story or short film.”
