Jhani Randhawa

Poet

Author's Bio

Jhani Randhawa is a Kenyan-Punjabi/Anglo-American counterdisciplinary maker, collaborator, and editor. Their work engages with dream, archive, diaspora, and fugue states in the wake of capitalist-driven ecological crises. Their debut collection TIME REGIME, which won the 2023 California Book Award for Poetry, was selected by Dr. Dorothy Wang as the 2021 Gaudy Boy Poetry Book Prize winner. Jhani is co-founding editor of the experimental arts journal rivulet, with Teo Rivera-Dundas.

Writers Retreats: 
Association of Writers & Writing Programs Conference and Bookfair
Millay Arts

Publications & Prizes

Anthology:
A Mouth Holds Many Things: A Hybrid-Literary Collection (Fonograf Editions, 2024)
Book:
Time Regime (Gaudy Boy, 2022)
Journals:
Figure 1
,
Gulf Coast
,
O BOD
,
PRISM International
Prizes won: 

2023 California Book Award Gold Medal for Poetry; 2023 UNESCO Youth Research Grant, Finalist; 2021 Gaudy Boy Poetry Book Prize Winner (Judge: Dr. Dorothy Wang); 2021 PEN American Emerging Voices Fellowship, Finalist; 2021  تحری Tehreer at the Rights Collective, Shortlist; 2021 Futurepoem Poetry Prize Finalist; 2020 Millay Arts Yasmin Fellowship Recipient; 2020 Radix Media Own Voices Chapbook Prize, Finalist

Watch

Personal Favorites

What I'm reading now: 
You Dreamed of Empires by Álvaro Enrigue, The Real Horse by Farid Matuk, One Day I Will Write About This Place: A Memoir by Binyavanga Wainaina

More Information

Gives readings: 
Yes
Travels for readings: 
Yes
Identifies as: 
BIPOC, LGBTQ, Mixed-Race
Born in: 
CA
California
Please note: All information in the Directory is provided by the listed writers or their representatives.
Last update: Mar 14, 2025