Vikram Seth facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Vikram Seth
CBE FRSL
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Seth in 2009
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| Born | 20 June 1952 Calcutta, West Bengal, India |
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| 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, Commonwealth Writers' Prize |
Vikram Seth (born 20 June 1952) is a famous Indian writer. He is known for writing many novels and poetry books. He has won several important awards for his work. Some of these awards include the Padma Shri, the Sahitya Akademi Award, and the Crossword Book Award. Seth's poetry collections, like Mappings and Beastly Tales, are important in Indian English poetry.
Contents
Early Life and Education
Vikram Seth was born on 20 June 1952 in a city called Calcutta (now Kolkata). His father, Prem Nath Seth, worked for a shoe company. His mother, Leila Seth, was a lawyer who 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 a private boarding school for boys called The Doon School in Dehradun. There, he was the main editor of the school's weekly newspaper. His teacher, Gurdial Singh, was a big influence on him. Singh taught him geography and helped him learn to love 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. He also started studying for a Ph.D. (a high-level university degree) in Economics at Stanford University, but he did not finish it.
His Books and Writing Style
Vikram Seth has written many books, including eight poetry books and three novels. His first poetry book, Mappings, came out in 1980.
One of his most famous books is A Suitable Boy, a very long novel with 1,349 pages. This book made him very well-known. It was even made into a TV show by the BBC 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 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. The English National Opera also asked him to write a story for an opera. It was based on the Greek legend of Arion and the Dolphin and was performed in 1994.
A follow-up to A Suitable Boy, called A Suitable Girl, was announced in 2009. However, it has not been published yet. In 2024, it was announced that Seth's English translation of the Hindu hymn Hanuman Chalisa would be released. This was his first new work in over ten years.
His Thoughts on Current Events
Vikram Seth sometimes shares his thoughts on important events. After the Indian general elections in 2024, he said that the situation in India was better. He felt that the new government would limit too much power in one place.
He also spoke out about the decision to prosecute another author, Arundhati Roy, calling it "craziness."
Where He Lives
Vikram Seth divides his time between two countries. He lives in the United Kingdom, where he bought and fixed up the old home of a poet named George Herbert. This home is near Salisbury. He also has a family home in Noida, Uttar Pradesh, in India.
Works
Novels
- The Golden Gate (1986)
- A Suitable Boy (1993)
- An Equal Music (1999)
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 Honours
- 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, 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
- 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 – NDTV's 25 Greatest Global Living Legends In India
See also
In Spanish: Vikram Seth para niños
- List of Indian writers
