Dr. Abraham Verghese is a physician, writer, and professor whose work bridges the worlds of medicine and literature with a rare depth of insight. A practicing doctor and bestselling author, he has long championed the importance of human connection in healthcare, weaving narrative and empathy into both his clinical work and his writing.

I photographed Verghese at his home in Palo Alto on August 18, 2023. His Spanish-style home is unique in many ways, but perhaps the most striking feature is how he has transformed the living room into his writing space. A large bay window floods the room with light, illuminating a vast desk that faces outward, overflowing with books, artifacts, and two wooden jointed mannequins. Behind him, a whiteboard filled with story ideas stands as a testament to the constant interplay between his work as a physician and his craft as a storyteller.

Our conversation meandered between the disciplines that define him, medicine, literature, and the delicate balance between science and the human spirit. His ability to hold both worlds together, to see the body not just as a collection of biological systems but as a repository of stories, has made him a deeply influential figure in modern medicine. His books, including Cutting for Stone and The Covenant of Water, are as much about the practice of healing as they are about the intricate narratives of the people who inhabit his pages.

Verghese’s presence is both warm and deeply thoughtful, embodying the philosophy that medicine is more than diagnosis and treatment, it is an act of witness, of listening, of understanding. Whether at the bedside or at his desk, his commitment remains the same: to bring humanity to medicine and meaning to storytelling. His life’s work is a reminder that, at its best, science does not stand apart from art, but is inextricably intertwined with it.