Tishani Doshi (born 9 December 1975) is an Indian

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or w ...

journalist A journalist is an individual that collects/gathers information in form of text, audio, or pictures, processes them into a news-worthy form, and disseminates it to the public. The act or process mainly done by the journalist is called journalis ...

and dancer based in

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

. In 2006 she won the

Forward Prize The Forward Prizes for Poetry are major British awards for poetry, presented annually at a public ceremony in London. They were founded in 1992 by William Sieghart with the aim of celebrating excellence in poetry and increasing its audience. The ...

for her debut poetry book ''Countries of the Body''. Her poetry book ''A God at the Door'' has been shortlisted for the 2021 Forward Prize under best poetry collection category.

Early life and education

Doshi was born in

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

, India, to a

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

mother and

Gujarati Gujarati may refer to: * something of, from, or related to Gujarat, a state of India * Gujarati people, the major ethnic group of Gujarat * Gujarati language, the Indo-Aryan language spoken by them * Gujarati languages, the Western Indo-Aryan sub- ...

father. She completed a bachelor's degree in the United States, at Queen's College in

Charlotte, North Carolina Charlotte ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of North Carolina. Located in the Piedmont region, it is the county seat of Mecklenburg County. The population was 874,579 at the 2020 census, making Charlotte the 16th-most popu ...

. She graduated with a master's degree in creative writing... from the

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hemisphere. It consi ...

Career

Doshi works as a freelance writer and journalist. She has worked with choreographer Chandralekha. Her short story "Lady Cassandra, Spartacus and the dancing man" was published in its entirety in the journal '' The Drawbridge'' in 2007. Her poetry collection, ''Everything Begins Elsewhere'', was published by

Bloodaxe Books Bloodaxe Books is a British publishing house specializing in poetry. History Bloodaxe Books was founded in 1978 in Newcastle upon Tyne by Neil Astley, who is still editor and managing director. Bloodaxe moved its editorial office to Northumbe ...

in the UK in 2012 and by

Copper Canyon Press Copper Canyon Press is an independent, non-profit small press, founded in 1972 specializing exclusively in the publication of poetry. It is located in Port Townsend, Washington. Copper Canyon Press publishes new collections of poetry by both ...

in the US in 2013.

Award winning works

In 2001 Tishani won the

Eric Gregory Award The Eric Gregory Award is a literary award given annually by the Society of Authors for a collection by British poets under the age of 30. The award was founded in 1960 by Dr. Eric Gregory to support and encourage young poets. In 2021, the seve ...

for young poets under 30 years. Tishani's first poetry collection, ''Countries of the Body'' was launched in 2006 at the Hay-on-Wye festival on a platform with

Seamus Heaney Seamus Justin Heaney (; 13 April 1939 – 30 August 2013) was an Irish poet, playwright and translator. He received the 1995 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Margaret Atwood Margaret Eleanor Atwood (born November 18, 1939) is a Canadian poet, novelist, literary critic, essayist, teacher, environmental activist, and inventor. Since 1961, she has published 18 books of poetry, 18 novels, 11 books of non-fiction, ...

, and others. The opening poem, "The Day we went to the Sea", won the 2005

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lan ...

-supported All India Poetry Prize. The book won the 2006

Forward Poetry Prize The Forward Prizes for Poetry are major British awards for poetry, presented annually at a public ceremony in London. They were founded in 1992 by William Sieghart with the aim of celebrating excellence in poetry and increasing its audience. The ...

for best first collection. Her first novel, ''The Pleasure Seekers'', was published by

Bloomsbury Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural, intellectual, and educational institutions. Bloomsbury is home of the British Museum, the largest ...

in 2010. It was long-listed for the

Orange Prize The Women's Prize for Fiction (previously with sponsor names Orange Prize for Fiction (1996–2006 and 2009–12), Orange Broadband Prize for Fiction (2007–08) and Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction (2014–2017)) is one of the United Kingdom's m ...

in 2011, and also shortlisted for The Hindu Best Fiction Award in 2010. Her poetry book ''Girls Are Coming Out of the Woods'' was a Poetry Book Society Recommendation and was shortlisted for the Ted Hughes Award in 2018. Her 2019 book, ''Small Days and Nights'', was shortlisted for the 2020 Ondaatje Prize. Tishani has been a finalist at Outlook-Picador Non-Fiction Competition. She also received honorary invitation to the poetry galas of

Hay Festival The Hay Festival of Literature & Arts, better known as the Hay Festival ( cy, Gŵyl Y Gelli), is an annual literature festival held in Hay-on-Wye, Powys, Wales, for 10 days from May to June. Devised by Norman, Rhoda and Peter Florence in 1988, ...

of 2006 and Cartagena Hay Festival of 2007.

Other activities

Tishani Doshi delivered the keynote address at the 13th annual St. Martin Book Fair on the Caribbean island of

St. Maarten Sint Maarten () is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Caribbean. With a population of 41,486 as of January 2019 on an area of , it encompasses the southern 44% of the divided island of Saint Martin, while the north ...

( St. Martin) in 2015. Her book ''The Adulterous Citizen – poems stories essays'' (2015) was launched at the festival by House of Nehesi Publishers. She writes a blog titled "Hit or Miss" on

Cricinfo ESPN cricinfo (formerly known as Cricinfo or CricInfo) is a sports news website exclusively for the game of cricket. The site features news, articles, live coverage of cricket matches (including liveblogs and scorecards), and ''StatsGuru'', a ...

, a cricket-related website. In the blog, which she started writing in April 2009, Tishani Doshi makes observations and commentaries as a television viewer of the second season of the

Indian Premier League The Indian Premier League (IPL), also known as TATA IPL for sponsorship reasons, is a men's T20 franchise cricket league of India. It is annually contested by ten teams based out of seven Indian cities and three Indian states. The leagu ...

. She is also collaborating with cricketer

Muttiah Muralitharan Deshabandu Muttiah Muralitharan ( si, මුත්තයියා මුරලිදරන්, ta, முத்தையா முரளிதரன், also spelt Muralidaran; born 1972) is a Sri Lankan cricket coach, former professional c ...

on his biography, to be published when he retires.

Books

* 2006: ''Countries of the Body'' (poetry) * 2008: ''Conflict and Instability'' (with obias Hilland Aoife Mannix) * 2010: ''The Pleasure Seekers'' (fiction) * 2012: ''Everything Begins Elsewhere'' (poetry),

, UK, 2012;

, United States, 2013. * 2013: ''Fountainville'' (fiction),

Seren Books Seren Books is the trading name of Poetry Wales Press, a small independent publisher based in Bridgend, Wales, specialising in English-language writing from WalesFelicity Wood (23 August 2013). Rhyme and reason: The poetry market is a notoriously ...

* 2013: ''Madras Then, Chennai Now'' (with

Nanditha Krishna Dr. Nanditha Krishna (born 1951) is an Indian author, environmentalist and educationist. She was recognised by the Government of India who gave her one of the first Nari Shakti Awards in 2015, the highest award for women in India. She is the pre ...

) * 2015: ''The Adulterous Citizen: poems stories essays'' (House of Nehesi Publishers) * 2017: ''Girls Are Coming Out of the Woods'' (poetry),

HarperCollins HarperCollins Publishers LLC is one of the Big Five English-language publishing companies, alongside Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, Hachette, and Macmillan. The company is headquartered in New York City and is a subsidiary of News C ...

, India;

, UK, 2018;

, United States, 2018. * 2019: ''Small Days and Nights'' (Bloomsbury) * 2021: ''A god at the door ''

References

External links

*
Tishani Doshi
at the

Poetry Foundation The Poetry Foundation is an American literary society that seeks to promote poetry and lyricism in the wider culture. It was formed from '' Poetry'' magazine, which it continues to publish, with a 2003 gift of $200 million from philanthropist ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Doshi, Tishani 1975 births Indian women poets Living people Writers from Chennai Gujarati people Indian people of Welsh descent Poets from Tamil Nadu 21st-century Indian poets 21st-century Indian women writers 21st-century Indian writers 21st-century Indian journalists Women writers from Tamil Nadu