Maria Sibylla Merian: butterflies, botanicals and the birth of scientific illustration
A research-led feature on the artist-naturalist who recorded insect life cycles with an investigative eye.
Freelance writer · India
Stories that begin with a detail and open into a larger world.
Aashima Rawal writes about culture, art, history, parenting and the stories hidden inside everyday life.
Her work has appeared in Business Insider, Art UK, Scary Mommy, SFWA, NPQ, FUTBOLISTA, Betches and other publications.
Business InsiderArt UKScary MommySFWA / PlanetsideNPQFUTBOLISTABetchesMonograph
For freelance writers
Looking for paid writing opportunities?
I curate paid freelance writing jobs, calls for pitches, commissions and submission opportunities from publications and organisations around the world.
The live opportunity page is updated from my working research files, with a fuller dated roundup published each week.
Portfolio
Selected writing
A curated selection of essays and features across culture, art, parenting, ideas and everyday life.
Rewriting the Empire: Lessons from South Asian Speculative Fiction
On history, memory and the ways South Asian speculative fiction redraws inherited borders.
Shapes, not bodies: Queer readings of gaming’s oldest avatars
A cultural reading of the ambiguous shapes players inhabited in the earliest video games.
Steve Jobs Monograph
A contribution to a multi-author book examining Danny Boyle’s Steve Jobs one creative element at a time. The publisher page introduces the volume and its contributors.
Welcome to the ‘Half-Eaten Snack Graveyard,’ where Goldfish crackers go to die
Experts explain why children abandon snacks mid-bite and the low-stress approaches that can reduce waste.
My best friend offered me $10,000 to ease my financial stress. I didn’t take it.
A personal essay about money, pride and the honesty that restored a long friendship.
The Rise of Women’s Football in South Asia: Resilience, Triumph and Transformation
A feature on the teams and players changing women’s football across India, Bangladesh and Nepal.
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Research-led writing
Looking closely at art, science and the histories held inside an image.
The Art UK feature on Maria Sibylla Merian follows the artist-naturalist’s precise observation of insects, plants and transformation.
Read the Art UK feature ↗About
“Her writing often begins with a small detail, object or experience and follows it into a larger story about people, history or culture.”More about Aashima
For writers
Real pitches. Editorial conversations. What changed.
Practical resources built from Aashima’s own pitching history, including the ideas that failed before a commission worked.
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Aashima is available for freelance commissions, essays, features and selected writing projects.
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