Tishani Doshi
William Sieghart founded the Forward Prizes for Poetry 14 years ago to give a boost to contemporary poetry and to highlight both the well known and the newer wordsmiths. The shortlist for this year's Felix Dennis Prize for the best first collection includes Chennai-based poet Tishani Doshi's Countries of the Body.
Tishani was a recipient of the Eric Gregory Award in 2001 and also on the 2005 All India Poetry Competition for "The Day We Went to the Sea", the first poem in Countries of the Body.
Asked for her reaction to the shortlist, Tishani said, "Being shortlisted for a prize of any kind is very satisfying, in an entirely narcissistic way of course. The Forward Prize is quite special though because it places particular emphasis on first collections. Emerging poets really struggle to get those encouraging nods and taps on the shoulder; so when they do come, either from other poets whose work you absolutely adore, or from literary foundations fortified with cash, I suppose, it's that much more satisfying...."
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