Manisha Joshi (born 1971, Kutch,

Gujarat Gujarat () is a States of India, state along the Western India, western coast of India. Its coastline of about is the longest in the country, most of which lies on the Kathiawar peninsula. Gujarat is the List of states and union territories ...

) is a

Gujarati language Gujarati ( ; , ) is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Indian state of Gujarat and spoken predominantly by the Gujarati people. Gujarati is descended from Old Western Rājasthāni, Old Gujarati (). In India, it is one of the 22 Languages with ...

poet and journalist. She is an author of four poetry collections including ''Kandara'' (1996), ''Kansara Bazar'' (2001), ''Kandmool'' (2013), and ''Thaak'' (2020). She currently lives in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

Early life and education

Manisha Joshi was born on 6 April 1971 in Godhra, a small village near

Mandvi Mandvi is a beach town with municipality in the Kutch district, Kachchh district (Kutch) in the States and territories of India, Indian state of Gujarat. It was once a major port of the region and summer retreat for Maharao (king) of the Cutch ...

in Kutch district, to Tara Joshi and Laxmikant Joshi. After finishing her HSC at Anjar in 1989, aged 18, she began writing poetry, and moved to

Vadodara Vadodara (), also known as Baroda, is a city situated on the banks of the Vishwamitri River in the Indian state of Gujarat. It serves as the administrative headquarters of the Vadodara district. The city is named for its abundance of banyan ...

to attend college, as there was no further education above 9th standard in her village. During her college years she read world literature, in particular modern literature. She completed her Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in English literature in 1992 and 1995 respectively at

Maharaja Sayajirao University Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda, formerly Baroda College, is a public university in the city of Vadodara, Gujarat, India. Originally established as a college in 1881, it became a public university on April 30, 1949 and was renamed after ...

, Vadodara. She also obtained a diploma in Mass Communication from St. Xaviers College, Mumbai in 1993. While attending university she studied the books written by her college professors, including Sitanshu Yashaschandra, Ganesh Devy and Babu Suthar, and became acquainted with other Gujarati writers such as

Gulam Mohammed Sheikh Ghulam Mohammed Sheikh (born 16 February 1937) is a painter, poet and art critic from Gujarat, India. He was awarded the Padma Shri in 1983 and Padmabhushan in 2014 for his contribution in field of art. Early life Sheikh was born on 16 Februa ...

, Prabodh Parikh, Labhshankar Thaker, Nitin Mehta, Jaydev Shukla and Bholabhai Patel.

Career

She worked as a print and television journalist in Mumbai and in London. Her poems were published in several English and Gujarati language magazines including '' The Wolf'', ''

Indian Literature Indian literature refers to the literature produced on the Indian subcontinent until 1947 and in the Republic of India thereafter. The Eighth Schedule to the Constitution of India has 22 officially recognised languages. Sahitya Akadem ...

'', ''New Quest'', ''

Shabdasrishti ''Shabdasrishti'' (), the journal of the Gujarat Sahitya Akademi, is a Gujarati language, Gujarati literary magazine, published on the fifth of every month. The magazine was started in 1983, a year after the establishment of the Akademi. ''Shabda ...

'', ''Parab'', ''Navneet Samarpan'', ''Kavita'', ''Tathapi'', ''Sahacharya Varshiki'', ''Etad'', ''Samipe'', ''Vahi'' and ''Sandhi''. ''Kandara'' (''The Cave''), her first collection of poems, was published in 1996 by

Gujarati Sahitya Parishad Gujarati Sahitya Parishad () is a literary organisation for the promotion of Gujarati literature located in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India. It was founded by Ranjitram Mehta with the aim of creating literature appealing to all classes of society and ...

with a preface by

Chandrakant Topiwala Chandrakant Amritlal Topiwala (born 7 August 1936) is a Gujarati language poet and critic from Gujarat, India. Early life Topiwala was born on 7 August 1936 at Vadodara, to Amritlal and Lilavati. He completed his Bachelor of Arts in Gujarati ...

. It was critically acclaimed by several Gujarati authors including Sitanshu Yashaschandra, Prabodh Parikh and

Chinu Modi Chinu Modi, (30 September 1939 – 19 March 2017), also known by his pen name Irshad, was a Gujarati language poet, novelist, short story writer and critic from Gujarat, India. Educated in languages, he taught at various institutions and establi ...

. Her second collection of poems ''Kansara Bazar'' (''The Pots-and-Pans Bazaar'') was published in 2001, followed by ''Kandmool'' in 2013. Some of her poems have been translated into English and

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

. Her poetry is characterized by suggestive and surreal imagery. She published her fourth collection, ''Thaak'' (''Fatigue''), in 2020.

Personal life

After marriage, she settled in the United States. Presently, she lives in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

Awards

Her poetry collection ''Kandmool'' received

Gujarat Sahitya Akademi The Gujarat Sahitya Akademi () or Gujarat Sahitya Academy, established in 1981, is a government institution dedicated to the development of the languages spoken in Gujarat, India and their literature. Gujarati, an official language of Gujarat, i ...

's 2013 first prize. She was nominated for the Sanskriti Award by Sanskriti Pratishthan in 1998 for her contribution to modern Gujarati poetry.

References

External links