Shikha Malaviya writes a poetic biography of India’s first female physician in Anandibai Joshee: A Life in Poems

12 July 2023

HarperCollins is delighted to announce the upcoming release of

ANANDIBAI JOSHEE: A Life in Poems

by  Shikha Malaviya

Paperback | 136 pp | Rs 399

Available wherever books are sold | Releasing 16 July 2023

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About the Book

Anandibai Joshee (1865-87) was not only India’s first female physician, but also the first Indian woman to travel across the forbidden ‘black waters’ and pursue an education in the United States – with the help of a kind American ally.

The poems in Shikha Malaviya’s Anandibai Joshee: A Life in Poems are a chronological rendering of Anandibai’s life-from her birth and childhood in the bustling town of Kalyan in Maharashtra and her marriage to an eccentric man sixteen years older, to early childbirth and the loss of her infant, from which her desire to become a doctor was born.

With elegance and a stark beauty, these poems bring to life the struggles and accomplishments of a woman who travelled across the seas to pursue a medical education before her return to India as a doctor. While her adventures were cut short by tragedy, her story lives on through these poems that thunder from across the decades with a voice that cannot be silenced.

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Talking about the book, Shikha Malaviya says, ‘The more I delved into the life of Anandibai Joshee, the more I realized how universal her struggles were, whether in the 19th or 21st century, to find one’s own voice and purpose in a deeply patriarchal world. Her strength and equanimity inspired me to rediscover my own voice. I hope her story will inspire others in similar ways.’

Prerna Gill, Commissioning Editor at HarperCollins adds, ‘These beautiful and deeply moving poems tell the story of India’s first female physician. I loved every page and was grateful for the opportunity to learn about a remarkable human being. I cannot think of a better way to celebrate this phenomenal woman.’

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About the Author

Shikha Malaviya was born in the United Kingdom but grew up in the United States and India. Her family originally hails from Uttarakhand. Shikha’s first book of poems, Geography of Tongues, was published to acclaim in 2014. Her poetry has been nominated for the Pushcart Prize and featured in Catamaran, PLUME, Prairie Schooner and other fine publications. Shikha has been a featured TEDx speaker and was selected as Poet Laureate of San Ramon, California, 2016. She is co-founder of The (Great) Indian Poetry Collective, a mentorship-model literary press and is currently a Mosaic America Fellow. Shikha graduated from the University of Minnesota with degrees in liberal studies, creative writing, and mass communications. She lives in the San Francisco Bay area with her family, where she is a poetry mentor, publisher, and workshop facilitator.

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For review copies, interviews, excerpts or more information, please write to: sohela.singh@harpercollins.co.in