Biography of Vikram Seth

(Born: 20 June 1952, Kolkata)

Vikram Seth was born in 1952. He studied at Oxford, Stanford, and Nanjing and spent two years in China working on demography.

His first novel, 'The Golden Gate: A Novel in Verse' (1986), describes the experiences of a group of friends living in California, India, and China. His acclaimed epic of Indian life, A Suitable Boy' (1993), won the W.H. Smith Literary Prize and the Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book.

Vikram Seth's notable novel An Equal Music is the story of a violinist haunted by the memory of a former lover. He is also the author of a travel book ‘From Heaven Lake: Travels Through Sikkim and Tibet (1983), which brought him the Thomas Cook Award. His poetry includes "Mappings" (1980), "The Humble Administrator's Garden' (1985), winner of the Commonwealth Poetry Prize. His children's book, "Beastly Tales from Here and There' (1992) consists of ten stories about animals told in verse.