Upasna Barath on Comedic Timing, Romance, and Rewriting the Rules of Flirting

A conversation with the author of Ladies Who Lit's February book selection.

Hello, LWL clubbers!

I hope you’re reading this in bed with a matcha latte and a pastry that trends more toward dessert than it does breakfast. January was the longest month of our lives, right? On the one hand, it was awful, and on the other hand, it was awful—BUT we got to read Nightbitch together. And I loved that!

It’s the first of February (“rabbit, rabbit,” as my literary queen Sarah Jessica Parker says), and LWL is officially in its smart smut era. Our February read, Comedic Timing, was officially released on Tuesday, January 28th, which also happened to be the day that I had the great privilege of interviewing the book’s author, Upasna Barath.

Upasna Barath is a queer Indian American writer and performer based in Brooklyn, NY. Comedic Timing, published by 831 Stories, is her debut novel. Upasna was born in Naperville, Illinois and lived in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. When she was 18 years old, she began writing for Rookie Mag publishing narrative essays on topics such as Indian identity, imposter syndrome, self-harm, and grief. She also had a video column with Rookie called Upasna Asks. Upasna’s acting credits include Natalie in Mosquitoes (Steep Theatre) and Sarita Imari in Right to Be Forgotten (West Virginia Public Theatre). Her first play, The Choice is Yours, was the runner-up for the 2019 Judith Barlow Prize. In December 2022, she wrote her second play, good friends, a 2024 Eugene O’Neill National Playwrights Conference Semi-Finalist. She also co-wrote, co-produced, and starred in the short film Little Slut, which premiered in New York City at Big Apple Film Festival. She was selected as the 20/21 Steppenwolf Theatre Literary Apprentice and Fellow. Her self-help podcast, Don’t Butcher It, was selected as a 2021 Spotify Next Wave winner. She is a 2023 Youngblood/EST Finalist and a member of the 23/24 Art House INKubator New Play Program cohort, where she worked on her second play, couple goals.

Upasna and I had an awesome chat that started with her realizing I was from Rockford (because of my area code) and proceeding to tell me that she thinks people from Rockford are gritty, and I really loved that. What follows is the slightly edited conversation that followed. We talked about Comedic Timing, of course, her release-day rituals, and how writing this book reshaped her understanding of romance, flirting, and vulnerability (courtship rooted in kindness—what a concept!), how playwriting informs novel writing (and vice versa) , canonical rom-com films, and the nuances of bisexuality in storytelling. It was a real treat of a convo, and I hope you enjoy it!