Manasi Subramaniam holds a B.A. in English Literature from Stella Maris College, University of Madras, where she was awarded the University Gold Medal, and an M.A. in Renaissance Literature from the University of York.

Her publishing training has been shaped by a number of highly selective international fellowships and residencies, including the Frankfurt Book Fair Fellowship Programme, the Bureau International de l'Édition Française Fellowship, the Australia Council for the Arts Visiting International Publishers Fellowship, the Zev Birger Editorial Fellowship and a residency with Pro Helvetia.

She has also held major international policy and leadership fellowships. She was a 2022 Maurice R. Greenberg Yale World Fellow at the Jackson School of Global Affairs at Yale University, a 2023 Asian Forum for Global Governance Fellow at the Raisina Dialogues and a 2023 Fisher Family Summer Fellow at the Center on Democracy, Development and the Rule of Law at the Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies at Stanford University.

In 2025, she was selected as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum, an invite-only programme recognising exceptional leaders under 40 across sectors and geographies.