Girls Are Coming Out of the Woods

"Tishani Doshi . . . offer[s] an eloquent dissection of the body-its attributes, metaphors, deficiencies and contradictions-all delivered in chromatic, richly textured lines, in which the assured manipulation of rhythm and internal rhyme produces poems of remarkable balance and grace." -The Guardian

"Tishani Doshi combines artistic elegance with a visceral power to create a breathtaking panorama of danger, memory, beauty and the strange geographies of happiness." -John Burnside

In her third collection of poetry, Tishani Doshi addresses violence against women by giving bodies abused and silenced bodies a chance to speak at last. Of and for the women that live on, she writes with bold reverence for that which thrives despite the odds-female desire, the aging body, the power of refusal. Doshi reminds us that poetry, at its root, is song-in praise and lament, hopeful and ebbing-calling out for truth and redemption.

From "Fear Management"

. . . Up ahead, a row of fishermen. Legs like pins, tomb-sized chests, leaning back on their heels to haul. Say they are making noises at you. A sideways kind of sound designed to entice a small, brainless creature into a corner before smashing it underfoot . . .

Tishani Doshi was born in Madras, India. She is an award-winning poet, journalist, essayist, and novelist, whose work has been translated into five languages. Doshi is also a professional dancer with the Chandralekha Troupe. She lives in Tamil Nadu, India, with her husband and three dogs.