Tishani Doshi

Tishani Doshi is an Indian poet, journalist, and dancer based in Chennai. She received an Eric Gregory Award in 2001. Her first collection "Countries of the Body" won the 2006 Forward Poetry Prize for best first collection. She has been invited to the poetry galas of the Guardian Hay Festival 2006 and the Cartagena Hay Festival 2007. Her first novel, "The Pleasure Seekers", will be published by Bloomsbury in 2009. She is also preparing a biography of cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan.

She works as a freelance writer and worked with choreographer Chandralekha until the latter's death in December 2006. She graduated with a Masters degree in creative writing from the Johns Hopkins University.

"Countries of the Body" was launched in 2006 at the Hay-on-Wye festival on a platform with Seamus Heaney, Margaret Atwood, and others. The opening poem, "The Day we went to the Sea", won the 2005 British Council supported All India Poetry Competition; she was also a finalist in the Outlook-Picador Non-Fiction Competition.