Vikram Seth (born 20 June 1952) is an

Indian Indian or Indians may refer to: Peoples South Asia * Indian people, people of Indian nationality, or people who have an Indian ancestor ** Non-resident Indian, a citizen of India who has temporarily emigrated to another country * South Asia ...

novelist A novelist is an author or writer of novels, though often novelists also write in other genres of both fiction and non-fiction. Some novelists are professional novelists, thus make a living writing novels and other fiction, while others aspire ...

and

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral or w ...

. He has written several

novel A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itself ...

s and

poetry Poetry (derived from the Greek '' poiesis'', "making"), also called verse, is a form of literature that uses aesthetic and often rhythmic qualities of language − such as phonaesthetics, sound symbolism, and metre − to evoke meani ...

books. He has won several awards such as

Padma Shri Padma Shri ( IAST: ''padma śrī''), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is conf ...

Sahitya Academy Award The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...

Pravasi Bharatiya Samman The Pravasi Bharatiya Samman (Overseas Indian Honour/Award) is the highest Indian award for Non-resident Indian and Overseas Citizen of India or an organisation or institution established and run by Non-Resident Indians or Persons of Indian Orig ...

WH Smith Literary Award The WH Smith Literary Award was an award founded in 1959 by British high street retailer W H Smith. Its founding aim was stated to be to "encourage and bring international esteem to authors of the British Commonwealth"; originally open to all re ...

and

Crossword Book Award The Crossword Book Award (formerly known as the Crossword Book Award (1998–2003), the Hutch Crossword Book Award (2004–07), the Vodafone Crossword Book Award (2008–10), the Economist Crossword Book Award (2011–13), Raymond & Crossword Bo ...

. Seth's collections of

such as '' Mappings'' and ''

Beastly Tales ''Beastly Tales'' is a 1991 collection of ten fables in poetry written by Vikram Seth (UK , also US ). Its full title is ''Beastly Tales from Here and There'' and, in the introduction, Seth states "the first two come from India, the next two fro ...

'' are notable contributions to the

Indian English Indian English (IE) is a group of English dialects spoken in the republic of India and among the Indian diaspora. English is used by the Indian government for communication, along with Hindi, as enshrined in the Constitution of India. ...

language poetry canon.

Early life and education

Seth was born on 20 June 1952 in

Calcutta Kolkata (, or , ; also known as Calcutta , the official name until 2001) is the capital of the Indian state of West Bengal, on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River west of the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary business, commer ...

. His father, Prem Nath Seth, was an executive of

Bata Shoes The Bata Corporation (known as Bata, and in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, known as Baťa) is a multinational footwear, apparel and fashion accessories manufacturer and retailer of Moravian (Czech) origin, headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerl ...

and his mother, Leila Seth, a

barrister A barrister is a type of lawyer in common law jurisdictions. Barristers mostly specialise in courtroom advocacy and litigation. Their tasks include taking cases in superior courts and tribunals, drafting legal pleadings, researching law and givin ...

by training, became the first female judge of the

Delhi High Court The High Court of Delhi (IAST: ''dillī uchcha nyāyālaya'') was established on 31 October 1966, through the ''Delhi High Court Act, 1966'', with four judges, Chief Justice K. S. Hegde, Justice I. D. Dua, Justice H. R. Khanna and Justice S. ...

and first woman to become Chief Justice of a state High Court in India. Seth was educated at the all-boys' private boarding school The Doon School in

Dehradun Dehradun () is the capital and the List of cities in Uttarakhand by population, most populous city of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. It is the administrative headquarters of the eponymous Dehradun district, district and is governed by the Dehr ...

, where he was editor-in-chief of '' The Doon School Weekly''. At Doon, he was influenced by his teacher, the mountaineer

Gurdial Singh Gurdial Singh Rahi (''Gurdi'āl Sigh''; 10 January 1933 – 16 August 2016) was an Indian writer and novelist who wrote in Punjabi. He started his literary career in 1957 with a short story, "Bhaganwale." He became known as a novelist when he p ...

, who taught him geography and, according to Leila Seth, "guided Vikram in many ways...encouraged him to appreciate Western classical music and instilled in him a love of adventure and daring." Singh later described Seth as an "indefatigable worker, and he maintains without difficulty his distinguished level in studies...he has put in enormous amount of energy in other spheres of school life, in dramatics, in debating, in first aid, in music, and in editing the Doon School Weekly." After graduating from Doon, Seth went to

Tonbridge School (God Giveth the Increase) , established = , closed = , type = Public schoolIndependent day and boarding , religion = , president = , head_label ...

, England, to complete his

A-levels The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational a ...

. Later he read Philosophy, Politics and Economics at Corpus Christi College,

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

. He then pursued a Ph.D. in Economics at

Stanford University Stanford University, officially Leland Stanford Junior University, is a private research university in Stanford, California. The campus occupies , among the largest in the United States, and enrolls over 17,000 students. Stanford is conside ...

though never completed it.

Work and style

Seth has published eight books of poetry and three novels. In 1980, he wrote '' Mappings'', his first book of poetry. The publication of ''

A Suitable Boy ''A Suitable Boy'' is a novel by Vikram Seth, published in 1993. With 1,349 pages (1,488 pages in paperback), the English-language book is one of the longest novels published in a single volume. ''A Suitable Boy'' is set in a newly post-inde ...

'', a 1,349-page novel, propelled Seth into the public limelight. It was adapted into a BBC television drama miniseries in 2020. His second novel, '' An Equal Music,'' deals with the troubled love-life of a violinist. Seth's work '' Two Lives,'' published in 2005, is a memoir of the marriage of his great-uncle and aunt. In addition to '' The Golden Gate,'' Seth has written other works of poetry including '' Mappings'' (1980), ''

The Humble Administrator's Garden ''The Humble Administrator's Garden'' is a collection of poetry written by Vikram Seth. It is his first collection, published in 1985. Sections The book has three sections, each containing works on a geography of Seth's life. The first section ...

'' (1985), ''

All You Who Sleep Tonight ''All You Who Sleep Tonight'', , is a 1990 collection of poems by Vikram Seth. British composer Jonathan Dove set eight of the quatrains and five other poems to music for Nuala Willis in a 1996 song cycle of the same name. The collection is ...

'' (1990) and '' Three Chinese Poets'' (1992). His children's book, '' Beastly Tales from Here and There'' (1992) consists of 10 stories about animals. He has written a travel book, ''From Heaven Lake: Travels through Sinkiang and Tibet'' (1983), an account of a journey through

Tibet Tibet (; ''Böd''; ) is a region in East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the traditional homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are some other ethnic groups such as Monpa people, ...

, China and

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is ma ...

. He was also commissioned by the

English National Opera English National Opera (ENO) is an opera company based in London, resident at the London Coliseum in St Martin's Lane. It is one of the two principal opera companies in London, along with The Royal Opera. ENO's productions are sung in English ...

to write a libretto based on the Greek legend of

Arion Arion (; grc-gre, Ἀρίων; fl. c. 700 BC) was a kitharode in ancient Greece, a Dionysiac poet credited with inventing the dithyramb. The islanders of Lesbos claimed him as their native son, but Arion found a patron in Periander, tyrant ...

and the Dolphin. The opera was performed for the first time in June 1994. A sequel to ''A Suitable Boy,'' '' A Suitable Girl'', was announced in 2009. Seth's former literary agent

Giles Gordon Giles Alexander Esmé Gordon (23 May 1940 – 14 November 2003) was a Scottish literary agent and writer, based for most of his career in London. Early life and education The son of Esmé Gordon (1910–1993), an architect and Honorary Secre ...

recalled being interviewed by Seth for the position, "Vikram sat at one end of a long table and he began to grill us. It was absolutely incredible. He wanted to know our literary tastes, our views on poetry, our views on plays, which novelists we liked".." Seth later explained to Gordon that he had passed the interview not because of commercial considerations, but because unlike the others he was the only agent who seemed as interested in his poetry as in his other writing. Seth followed what he has described as "the ludicrous advance for that book" (£250,000 for ''A Suitable Boy'') with £500,000 for ''An Equal Music'' and £1.4 million for ''Two Lives''. He prepared an

acrostic An acrostic is a poem or other word composition in which the ''first'' letter (or syllable, or word) of each new line (or paragraph, or other recurring feature in the text) spells out a word, message or the alphabet. The term comes from the F ...

poem for his address at Gordon's 2005 memorial service.

Personal life

Seth is

bisexual Bisexuality is a romantic or sexual attraction or behavior toward both males and females, or to more than one gender. It may also be defined to include romantic or sexual attraction to people regardless of their sex or gender identity, whic ...

. He was in a relationship with the violinist Philippe Honoré for ten years and dedicated his novel ''An Equal Music'' to him. In 2006, he became a leader of the campaign against

Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code Section 377 of the British colonial penal code criminalized all sexual acts "against the order of nature". The law was used to prosecute people engaging in oral and anal sex along with homosexual activity. The penal code remains in many former col ...

, a law against homosexuality. When Section 377 was reinstated in 2013, Seth continued campaigning against the law. Seth divides his time between the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

, where he bought and renovated the former home of the Anglican poet

George Herbert George Herbert (3 April 1593 – 1 March 1633) was an English poet, orator, and priest of the Church of England. His poetry is associated with the writings of the metaphysical poets, and he is recognised as "one of the foremost British devoti ...

near

Salisbury Salisbury ( ) is a cathedral city in Wiltshire, England with a population of 41,820, at the confluence of the rivers Avon, Nadder and Bourne. The city is approximately from Southampton and from Bath. Salisbury is in the southeast of ...

, and India, where he has a family home in

Noida Noida, short for New Okhla Industrial Development Authority, is a planned city located in Gautam Buddha Nagar district of the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. Noida is a satellite city of Delhi and is a part of the National Capital Region (NCR) o ...

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh (; , 'Northern Province') is a state in northern India. With over 200 million inhabitants, it is the most populated state in India as well as the most populous country subdivision in the world. It was established in 195 ...

Bibliography

Novels

*'' The Golden Gate'' (1986) *''

'' (1993) *'' An Equal Music'' (1999)

Poetry

*'' Mappings'' (1980) *'' The Tale Of Melon City'' (1981) *''

'' (1985) *''

'' (1990) *''

'' (1991) *'' Three Chinese Poets'' (1992) *'' The Frog and the Nightingale'' (1994) *''Summer Requiem: A Book of Poems'' (2015) *''A Doctor’s Journal Entry for August 6, 1945'' *'' Elephant and the Trapogan''

Children's fiction

*''Arion and the Dolphin'' (1994) *''The Louse and the Mosquito'' (2020)

Non-fiction

* ''From Heaven Lake: Travels Through Sinkiang and Tibet'' (1983) * ''Two Lives'' (2005) * ''The Rivered Earth'' (2011)

Appearances in poetry anthologies

* ''The Golden Treasure of

Writers Workshop Writers Workshop is a Kolkata-based literary publisher founded by the Indian poet and scholar Purushottama Lal in 1958. It has published many new Indian authors of post-independence urban literature. Many of these authors later became widely k ...

Poetry''. Ed. Rubana Huq. Calcutta: Writers Workshop, 2008. * ''The Oxford India Anthology of Twelve Modern Indian Poets''. Ed.

Arvind Krishna Mehrotra Arvind Krishna Mehrotra (born 1947) is an Indian poet, anthologist, literary critic and translator. Biography Arvind Krishna Mehrotra was born in Lahore in 1947. He has published six collections of poetry in English and two of translati ...

. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1992.

Awards and honours

*1983 – Thomas Cook Travel Book Award for ''From Heaven Lake: Travels Through Sinkiang and Tibet'' *1985 –

Commonwealth Poetry Prize The Commonwealth Poetry Prize was an annual poetry prize established in 1972, for a first published book of English poetry from a country other than the United Kingdom. It was initially administered jointly by the Commonwealth Institute and the Nat ...

(Asia) for ''The Humble Administrator's Garden'' *1988 –

Sahitya Akademi Award The Sahitya Akademi Award is a literary honour in India, which the Sahitya Akademi, India's National Academy of Letters, annually confers on writers of the most outstanding books of literary merit published in any of the 22 languages of the ...

for ''The Golden Gate'' *1993 – Irish Times International Fiction Prize (shortlist) for ''A Suitable Boy'' *1994 –

Commonwealth Writers Prize Commonwealth Foundation presented a number of prizes between 1987 and 2011. The main award was called the Commonwealth Writers' Prize and was composed of two prizes: the Best Book Prize (overall and regional) was awarded from 1987 to 2011; the Best ...

(Overall Winner, Best Book) for ''A Suitable Boy'' *1994 –

for ''A Suitable Boy'' *1999 –

for ''An Equal Music'' *2001 –

Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...

, Commander *2001 – EMMA (BT Ethnic and Multicultural Media Award) for Best Book/Novel for ''An Equal Music'' *2005 –

*2007 –

in Literature & Education *2013 –

NDTV New Delhi Television Ltd is an Indian news media company focusing on broadcast and digital news publication. The company is considered to be a legacy brand that pioneered independent news broadcasting in India, and is credited for launching t ...

's 25 Greatest Global Living Legends In India

References

Sources

* Chaudhuri, Amit (ed.). "Vikram Seth (born 1952)." ''The Vintage Book of Modern Indian Literature''. New York: Vintage, 2004:508–537.

External links

The Telegraph ("Love split delayed Suitable Boy sequel")British Council Bio
*
"Poetic License" by Cynthia Haven, "Stanford Magazine," May/June 1999''BOMB Magazine'' interview with Vikram Seth by Ameena MeerVikram Seth
at the

Encyclopedia of Fantasy ''The Encyclopedia of Fantasy'' is a 1997 reference work concerning fantasy fiction, edited by John Clute and John Grant. Other contributors include Mike Ashley, Neil Gaiman, Diana Wynne Jones, David Langford, Sam J. Lundwall, Michael S ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seth, Vikram 1952 births Writers from Kolkata Living people Alumni of Corpus Christi College, Oxford Bisexual writers The Doon School alumni Fellows of the Royal Society of Literature English-language poets from India Indian emigrants to the United Kingdom Indian male novelists Indian travel writers LGBT writers from India LGBT rights activists from India People educated at Tonbridge School Recipients of the Padma Shri in literature & education The Doon School faculty Bisexual men Recipients of the Sahitya Akademi Award in English St. Xavier's Patna alumni Writers from Patna Indian male poets 20th-century Indian novelists 21st-century Indian novelists 20th-century Indian poets 21st-century Indian poets 20th-century Indian essayists 21st-century Indian essayists Indian political writers Indian children's writers Novelists from West Bengal Poets from West Bengal 20th-century Indian male writers 21st-century Indian male writers Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Stegner Fellows Recipients of Pravasi Bharatiya Samman