Vikram Seth facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Vikram Seth CBE FRSL
Seth in 2009
Born	(1952-06-20) 20 June 1952 (age 73) Calcutta, West Bengal, India
Occupation	Novelist poet
Alma mater	Corpus Christi College, Oxford Stanford University
Period	1980–present
Genre	Novels, poetry, libretto, travel writing, children's literature, biography/memoir
Notable works	A Suitable Boy The Golden Gate An Equal Music
Notable awards	Padma Shri, Sahitya Academy, Stegner Fellowship, Guggenheim Fellowship, FRSL Commonwealth Writers' Prize

Vikram Seth (born 20 June 1952) is a famous Indian novelist and poet. He has written three novels and many collections of poetry. He has won several important awards, including the Padma Shri and the Sahitya Akademi Award.

Seth's poetry books, like Mappings and Beastly Tales, are very important in Indian English poetry. Many people think he is one of the greatest Indian writers in English ever.

Early Life and School

Vikram Seth was born on June 20, 1952, in Calcutta, India. His father, Prem Nath Seth, worked for a shoe company. His mother, Leila Seth, was a lawyer. She became the first female judge of the Delhi High Court. She was also the first woman to become the Chief Justice of a state High Court in India.

Seth went to The Doon School, an all-boys boarding school in Dehradun. There, he was the main editor of the school newspaper, The Doon School Weekly. His teacher, Gurdial Singh, taught him geography. Singh also helped Seth learn to love Western classical music and adventure.

After Doon School, Seth went to Tonbridge School in England. He then studied Philosophy, Politics, and Economics at Corpus Christi College at Oxford University. Later, he started a Ph.D. in Economics at Stanford University but did not finish it.

His Books and Writing Style

Vikram Seth has written eight books of poetry and three novels. His first poetry book, Mappings, came out in 1980.

He became very well-known after publishing A Suitable Boy in 1993. This novel is very long, with 1,349 pages! It was even made into a TV show in 2020. His second novel, An Equal Music, is about a violinist's difficult love life. In 2005, Seth published Two Lives, which tells the story of his great-uncle and aunt's marriage.

Besides The Golden Gate, Seth has written other poetry books. These include The Humble Administrator's Garden (1985) and All You Who Sleep Tonight (1990). His children's book, Beastly Tales from Here and There (1992), has 10 fun stories about animals.

He also wrote a travel book called From Heaven Lake: Travels through Sinkiang and Tibet (1983). This book describes his journey through Tibet, China, and Nepal. He also wrote a story for an opera based on the Greek legend of Arion and the Dolphin. The opera was first performed in 1994.

A new novel, A Suitable Girl, was announced in 2009. It is planned to be a follow-up to A Suitable Boy. In June 2024, a publishing company announced Seth's English translation of the Hindu hymn Hanuman Chalisa. This was his first new work in over ten years.

Vikram Seth's Thoughts

Vikram Seth shared his thoughts on the Indian general elections that happened in the summer of 2024. He said that "we live in a better situation now than we lived a month ago." He made this comment shortly after the elections were over and a new government was formed. Seth felt that "at least now there is somewhat of limitation on autocracy."

He also commented on the decision to prosecute another author, Arundhati Roy, calling it "craziness."

Where He Lives

Vikram Seth spends his time in two places. He has a home in the United Kingdom, near Salisbury, which used to belong to a poet named George Herbert. He also has a family home in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, India.

Works

Novels

• The Golden Gate (1986)
• A Suitable Boy (1993)
• An Equal Music (1999)
• A Suitable Girl (planned)

Poetry

• Mappings (1980)
• The Tale Of Melon City (1981)
• The Humble Administrator's Garden (1985)
• All You Who Sleep Tonight (1990)
• Beastly Tales (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

Translation

• Hanuman Chalisa

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)

Awards and Honors

Vikram Seth has received many awards for his writing:

• 1983 – Thomas Cook Travel Book Award for From Heaven Lake: Travels Through Sinkiang and Tibet
• 1985 – Commonwealth Poetry Prize (Asia) for The Humble Administrator's Garden
• 1988 – Sahitya Akademi Award for The Golden Gate
• 1993 – Shortlisted for the Irish Times International Fiction Prize for A Suitable Boy
• 1994 – Commonwealth Writers Prize (Overall Winner, Best Book) for A Suitable Boy
• 1994 – WH Smith Literary Award for A Suitable Boy
• 1994 – Became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature
• 1999 – Crossword Book Award for An Equal Music
• 2001 – Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE)
• 2001 – EMMA (BT Ethnic and Multicultural Media Award) for Best Book/Novel for An Equal Music
• 2005 – Pravasi Bharatiya Samman
• 2007 – Padma Shri in Literature & Education
• 2013 – Named one of NDTV's 25 Greatest Global Living Legends In India

See also

In Spanish: Vikram Seth para niños