Manisha Joshi

• Name — Manisha Joshi • Birth Name — Manisha Laxmikant Joshi • Born — 6 April 1971 • Birthplace — Godhra, Mandvi, Kutch district, Gujarat • Occupation — Poet, journalist • Language — Gujarati, Kutchi • Alma Mater — * M S University • St. Xavier's College, Mumbai • Website — manishajoshi.in

Manisha Joshi was born on 6 April 1971 in Godhra, a small village near Mandvi in Kutch district, to Tara Joshi and Laxmikant Joshi. After finishing her HSC at Anjar in 1989, aged 18, she began writing poetry, and moved to Vadodara to attend college, as there was no further education above 9th standard in her village. During her college years she read world literature, in particular modern literature. She completed her Bachelor of Arts and Master of Arts in English literature in 1992 and 1995 respectively at Maharaja Sayajirao University, Vadodara. She also obtained a diploma in Mass Communication from St. Xaviers College, Mumbai in 1993. While attending university she studied the books written by her college professors, including Sitanshu Yashaschandra, Ganesh Devy and Babu Suthar, and became acquainted with other Gujarati writers such as Gulam Mohammed Sheikh, Prabodh Parikh, Labhshankar Thaker, Nitin Mehta, Jaydev Shukla and Bholabhai Patel.

She worked as a print and television journalist in Mumbai and in London. Her poems were published in several English and Gujarati language magazines including The Wolf, Indian Literature, New Quest, Shabdasrishti, Parab, Navneet Samarpan, Kavita, Tathapi, Sahacharya Varshiki, Etad, Samipe, Vahi and Sandhi. Kandara (The Cave), her first collection of poems, was published in 1996 by Gujarati Sahitya Parishad with a preface by Chandrakant Topiwala. It was critically acclaimed by several Gujarati authors including Sitanshu Yashaschandra, Prabodh Parikh and Chinu Modi. Her second collection of poems Kansara Bazar (The Pots-and-Pans Bazaar) was published in 2001, followed by Kandmool in 2013. Some of her poems have been translated into English and Hindi. Her poetry is characterized by suggestive and surreal imagery. She published her fourth collection, Thaak (Fatigue), in 2020.

After marriage, she settled in the United States. Presently, she lives in Berkeley, California.