The Immigrant's Song

“The Immigrant’s Song” is by Tishani Doshi—an award-winning poet, novelist, journalist, and dancer. Published in 2013, the poem explores sentiments of song and themes of immigration and silencing. Doshi—who was born in India and came to America to earn her college and graduate degrees—has felt firsthand how it feels to be an immigrant. In 2001, Doshi returned to India where she has remained since. Her writing explores Indian culture and is known for asking particularly tough questions about race, immigration, and gender. For instance, her 2017 collection, Girls Are Coming Out of the Woods, explores the female body and boundaries and violence of women in India.

“The Immigrant’s Song” is a cornerstone to Doshi’s poetic works. Serving as a voice for immigrants, it speaks volumes to the sentiments of being forced to leave one’s homeland and feeling unmoored in a new, strange land. Published in her 2013 collection, Everything Begins Elsewhere, “The Immigrant’s Song” represents an important voice for refugees and immigrants all around the world.

Poet Biography

Tishani Doshi (1975-) was born in Madras, India where she spent her early life raised by her Welsh mother and Gujarati father. Doshi moved to America and earned a BA from Queens College in North Carolina, where she studied Business Administration and Communications, followed by a master’s degree from the Writing Seminars at Johns Hopkins University.