Vinod Joshi (born 13 August 1955) is an Indian poet, writer and literary critic in Gujarati language from Gujarat, India. His notable works include Parantu, a collection of Geet (lyric poetry), Shikhandi, a long narrative poem based on Shikhandi, a character from the Mahābhārata, Radio Natak: Swarup ane Siddhant (Radio Drama: Form and Theory, an abridged Ph.D. thesis), Tundil-tundika, a form of padyavarta, a Gujarati medieval literary genre, and Zalar Vage Zoothadi, a collection of poems. He is the recipient of the Jayant Pathak Puraskar (1985), Critic's award (1986), Kavishwar Dalpatram Award (2013), Sahitya Gaurav Puraskar (2015), Narsinh Mehta Award (2018), Kalapi Award (2018), Darshak Sahitya Sanman Award (2021), Narmad Suvarna Chandrak (2022) and Sahitya Akademi Award (2023).

Vinod Joshi was born on 13 August 1955 in Bhoringda, a village of Amreli district of Gujarat state. His family is a native of Botad. His father, Hargovinddas Joshi, was a Sanskrit scholar, and served as a Panchayat Mantri in rural Saurashtra. Joshi has been influenced by the folkloric Gujarati language of his mother, Lilavati Joshi.

Joshi completed his preschool education at Mohanlal Motichand Balmandir, Gadhada. He completed his primary education at the Government School of Turkha, a village in Botad district, from 1960 to 1966. He received secondary schooling from the N.T.M Government High School, Surendranagar (1967–1968); Sarvoday Vidyalaya, Lathidad (1969), and from the Government High School, Botad (1970).

Joshi earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Gujarati literature at the Kavishri Botadkar Arts and Commerce College, Botad, in 1975. He completed his Master of Arts at the Gujarati Anusnatak Kendra (Gujarati Postgraduate Centre) at Saurashtra University, Bhavnagar (1976), and the Gujarati Bhasha Sahitya Bhavan (Gujarati Language and Literature Department) at Saurashtra University (1977). He earned a Ph.D. in 1980 from the Gujarati Bhasha Sahitya Bhavan, Saurashtra University, for his research thesis Radio Nataknu Kalaswaroop Ane Gujaratima Teno Vikas (The Art of Radio Drama and its Development in the Gujarati Language) under the supervision of Ishwarlal R. Dave.

He is married to Vimal Joshi, and they have a son, Aditya.

Vinod Joshi began his career as a Professor of Gujarati literature in 1977 at the H.L. Patel Arts and Commerce College in Bhayavadar, a town near Upleta. From 1978 to 1987, he was a professor at the Kapadia Mahila Arts College, Bhavnagar. He served as a professor and Head of the Gujarati Department at Maharaja Krishnakumarsinhji Bhavnagar University from 1988 to 2017. He has also served as Dean of the Faculty of Arts and Vice-Chancellor of the same university. He was convener of Gujarati language at Sahitya Akademi, New Delhi from 2008 to 2012, and has again been appointed convener at the same national institution for 2018 to 2022.

Joshi started writing poetry during his school days. In Standard 10, he explored the Sanskrit metres and ventured into the metrical form. His poetry was first published in 1973 in Kumar, a Gujarati language magazine. His poems have subsequently been published in other Gujarati periodicals, including Kavilok, Kavita, Shabdasrishti, Parab, Navneet Samarpan, Buddhiprakash, and Etad.

Vinod Joshi's poetry is infused with images of rural life, mainly through the portrayal of feminine sentiments in Gujarati literature.