Tanwi Nandini Islam
{{Short description|American novelist (born 1982)}}
{{Infobox person
| name = Tanaïs
| birth_name = Tanwi Nandini Islam
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1982|10|5}}
| birth_place = Carbondale, Illinois, U.S.
| death_date =
| occupation = Writer, perfumer
| education = Vassar College (AB)
Brooklyn College (MFA)
| website = {{URL|tanwinandini.com/}}
}}
Tanaïs ({{nee}} Tanwi Nandini Islam) is an American fiction writer and perfumer. They are the founder of the Brooklyn-based beauty and fragrance company TANAÏS.{{cite web |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/tanwi-nandini-islam-crafting-bright-lines-beautifully-universal-scents-n600656 |title=Tanwi Nandini Islam Is Crafting 'Bright Lines' and 'Beautifully Universal' Scents |publisher=nbcnews.com |date=2016-07-11 |accessdate=2018-05-12 |archive-date=2018-05-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180513152824/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/tanwi-nandini-islam-crafting-bright-lines-beautifully-universal-scents-n600656 |url-status=live }} They are of Bangladeshi descent.
Born in Illinois, they spent their childhood in various cities such as Houston, Columbia, and St. Louis, before settling in Brooklyn.{{Cite web|url=https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/not-the-usual-south-asian-muslim-suspects/|title=Not the Usual South Asian Muslim Suspects|website=www.lareviewofbooks.org/|date=26 February 2016|language=en-US|access-date=2018-05-12|archive-date=2018-05-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180513011453/https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/not-the-usual-south-asian-muslim-suspects/|url-status=live}}{{cite web|url=https://www.wnyc.org/story/bangladesh-brooklyn-tanwi-nadini-islams-bright-lines/|title=From Bangladesh to Brooklyn: Tanwi Nandini Islam's 'Bright Lines'|publisher=wnyc.org|date=2015-09-15|accessdate=2018-05-12|archive-date=2016-07-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160731125013/http://www.wnyc.org/story/bangladesh-brooklyn-tanwi-nadini-islams-bright-lines/|url-status=live}} They received an AB in women's studies with a focus on performance art and Asian American studies at Vassar College and a MFA in creative writing at Brooklyn College.
Career
Tanaïs first worked in New York City as a community organizer at Make the Road New York, a non-profit organization based in Bushwick, Brooklyn to empower working class communities.{{Cite web|url=http://nycitylens.com/2015/10/two-bengladeshi-entrepreneurs-a-generation-apart/|title=Two Bangladeshi Entrepreneurs, a Generation Apart|website=www.nycitylens.com/|date=31 October 2015 |language=en-US|access-date=2018-05-12|archive-date=2018-05-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180513011259/http://nycitylens.com/2015/10/two-bengladeshi-entrepreneurs-a-generation-apart/|url-status=live}} Later in 2006 in New Delhi, India through the William J. Clinton Fellowship for Service, they started writing their first draft of their debut novel Bright Lines. The novel was named finalist for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, the Brooklyn Eagles Literary Prize,{{Cite web|url=https://www.bklynlibrary.org/media/press/brooklyn-eagles-literary-0|title=Brooklyn Eagles Literary Prize Shortlists Announced|website=www.bklynlibrary.org/|date=30 August 2016|language=en-US|access-date=2018-05-12|archive-date=2018-05-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180513081133/https://www.bklynlibrary.org/media/press/brooklyn-eagles-literary-0|url-status=live}} and the Edmund White Award for debut fiction.
While writing Bright Lines, Tanaïs grew interested in olfaction and started their own botanically based perfume and candle line Hi Wildflower Botanica, now renamed Studio Tanaïs.{{Cite web|url=https://nylon.com/articles/tanwi-nandini-islam-interview-nylon-december-january-2017|title=Get To Know New York-based Author Tanwi Nandini Islam|website=www.nylon.com/|date=19 December 2016 |language=en-US|access-date=2018-05-12|archive-date=2018-05-13|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180513081256/https://nylon.com/articles/tanwi-nandini-islam-interview-nylon-december-january-2017|url-status=live}}
Tanaïs's 2022 memoir, In Sensorium, won the Kirkus Prize for nonfiction.{{cite news |title=Hernan Diaz, Tanaïs among winners of $50,000 Kirkus Prize |url=https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-fiction-nonfiction-e93d25d33dd90a321a9a9b357185d3a6 |work=AP News |date=28 October 2022 |language=en |access-date=28 October 2022 |archive-date=28 October 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221028082319/https://apnews.com/article/entertainment-fiction-nonfiction-e93d25d33dd90a321a9a9b357185d3a6 |url-status=live }}
Publications
- 2015: Bright Lines, Penguin Books, {{ISBN|978-0143123132}}
- 2022: In Sensorium: Notes For My People, Harper Books, {{ISBN|978-0358381709}}
References
{{Reflist}}
{{authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Islam, Tanwi Nandini}}
Category:American people of Bangladeshi descent
Category:American writers of Bangladeshi descent
Category:21st-century American novelists
Category:American women company founders
Category:American cosmetics businesspeople
Category:Vassar College alumni
Category:Brooklyn College alumni