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.