Born in Bombay into an Indian noble family, Namjoshi worked as an officer in the Indian Administrative Service before moving to Canada where she got the citizenship. There she completed her PhD before becoming an Associate Professor in the Department of English at the University of Toronto.

Namjoshi is a lesbian writer whoser work draws several cultural traditions together. Her work is touched by autobiographical elements such as her gender, sexual orientation, politics, and her Hindu background.

She is the long-term companion of the writer Gillian Hanscombe, and they now live in Roudson, Devon, UK. Namjoshi is now a Research Fellow at the Centre for Women's Studies at Exeter University, UK.