Tishani Doshi: A God at the Door

“We are homesick everywhere,” writes Tishani Doshi, “even when we’re home.”

With aching empathy, righteous anger, and rebellious humor, A God at the Door calls on the extraordinary minutiae of nature and humanity to redefine belonging and unveil injustice.

From a microscopic cell to flightless birds, to a sumo wrestler and the tree of life, Doshi interrupts the news cycle to pause in grief or delight, to restore power to language. A God at the Door invites the reader on a pilgrimage―one that leads us back to the sacred temple of ourselves. This is an exquisite, generous collection from a poet at the peak of her powers.

In an era of pandemic lockdown and brutal politics, these poems make vital space for what must come next―the return of wonder and free movement, and a profound sense of connection to what matters most. A GOD AT THE DOOR by TISHANI DOSHI invites the reader on a pilgrimage―one that leads us back to the sacred temple of ourselves. This is an exquisite, generous collection from a poet at the peak of her powers.

Tishani Doshi is an award-winning writer and dancer of Welsh-Gujarati descent. Born in Madras, India, in 1975, she received a masters in writing from the Johns Hopkins University, and worked in London in advertising before returning to India in 2001, where a chance encounter with the choreographer Chandralekha led her to an unexpected career in dance. She has published seven books of fiction and poetry, the most recent of which are Girls Are Coming Out of the Woods, shortlisted for the Ted Hughes Poetry Award and a Firecracker Award; and a novel, Small Days and Nights, shortlisted for the RSL Ondaatje Prize, the Tata Best Fiction Award, and The New York Times Bestsellers Editor’s Choice. She has interviewed over a hundred writers about the craft of writing, and has published essays in The Hindu, Granta, The National, The New York Times, The Guardian, Lithub and Corriere della Sera. She is a Visiting Professor of Creative Writing at New York University Abu Dhabi, and otherwise, lives on a beach in Tamil Nadu, India.

(. . . . .)

What if god on the other side of the wall
was equally alone and in need of company
What if we replaced god with home
What if I was ready to become nothing
What if I understood there was no me

Would you carry me to this divinity

A God at the Door
by Tishani Doshi
Format: Paperback
88 pages
ISBN: 9781556594526
2021 Copper Canyon Press
$16.00 list price

♦Forthcoming 9 November 2021

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Tishani Doshi

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