Egrets, While War: An Evening with Tishani Doshi

Tishani Doshi has spent two decades refusing to choose between disciplines. A Forward Prize–winning poet, novelist, and Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature, she is also a dancer: for fifteen years she was lead dancer under Chandralekha, the choreographer who redefined Indian dance as an act of rebellion against its own classical tradition.

This appearance marks the inaugural event of Doshi's residency as the 2026–2027 Raman Family Visiting Scholar in India Studies at the Roundglass India Center.

In a 30-minute performance, Doshi brings poems from her new collection Egrets, While War (forthcoming in the US from Copper Canyon Press) into a live convergence of film, spoken word, and movement. The collection is shortlisted for both the 2026 Forward Prize for Best Collection and the 2026 PEN Heaney Prize. Moving between birds and bomb sites, myth and extinction, the piece unfolds in dialogue with a film of three masked women who echo and multiply the lone performer on stage. It presents plurality as a condition of survival: one body continually reflected, fractured, and returned through another. This is a signature of Doshi's practice. She stages her readings as full theatrical works, not podium events.

Following the performance, Doshi will join Sonora Jha, Loyola Endowed Professor and novelist, for a conversation and audience Q&A. The evening closes with a book signing; copies of Doshi's work will be available for purchase courtesy of Elliott Bay Book Company.

The evening opens with a reading by Jaykumar Shah curated by Mehfil Stories, a new storytelling and spoken-word platform from the Mehfil Nights team. Rooted in Seattle, Mehfil Stories spotlights South Asian voices through poetry, personal stories, and performance, bringing together emerging and established artists to share intimate, thoughtful, and deeply human stories. At its heart, it is about creating a space where stories are heard, shared, and remembered.

Date: Tuesday, October 13

Location: Raisbeck Auditorium (inside Ivey Tower Building), 2017 Boren Avenue, Cornish College of the Arts, Seattle University

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Doors open: 6:00pm

Program:
6:20pm: Opening performance by Mehfil Stories

6:30–7:30pm: Performance by Tishani Doshi (30 min) → Conversation & Q&A with Prof. Sonora Jha → Book signing with Elliott Bay Book Company