Tanwi Nandini Islam

Tanaïs fka Tanwi Nandini Islam is an American fiction writer, perfumer, and founder of the Brooklyn-based beauty and fragrance company TANAÏS.^[1] 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.^[2][3] They received a BA 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.^[4] 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 . The novel was named finalist for the Center for Fiction First Novel Prize, the Brooklyn Eagles Literary Prize,^[5] 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.^[6]

Works[]

Books[]

• 2015: Bright Lines, Penguin Books, ISBN 978-0143123132
• 2022: In Sensorium: Notes For My People, Mariner Books, ISBN 978-0358381709

References[]