Described by K. M. George as a poet with "deep moral concern and technical dexterity",[2] she has written four volumes of poems and a few short stories while also authoring a novel.

Her father was employed at "Malabar Special Police" while her eldest brother O. V. Vijayan was a novelist and cartoonist.

[5] Usha started writing poems at the age of 13, and was a frequent contributor to the "Children's Corner" of the Malayalam weekly Mathrubhumi.

[6] In the same film she wrote a song ( 'aarude manasile gaanamayi njan', music G. Devarajan, Singer P.Leela) presumably by first women lyricist in modern Malayalam filmdom.

[5] She was one among the jury members of the Kerala State Film Awards in 2008 and served the Mahatma Gandhi University, Kottayam as its director of publications.