Seth, Vikram (1952-…), an Indian novelist and poet, is known both for his own novels and poems and for his translations of German, Hindi, and Chinese poetry into English. Both his poetic and fictional styles are marked by an adherence to traditional forms and an avoidance of technical experiment.
Seth’s first major work of fiction was The Golden Gate (1986), a novel written entirely in sonnets, poems of 14 lines with fixed meter and rhyme (see Sonnet). The novel explores the culture of Silicon Valley, a leading computer-manufacturing region in northern California. Seth’s decision to write this book in verse was inspired by hearing a reading of a translation of the Russian poet Alexander Pushkin‘s verse novel Eugene Onegin. The epic prose novel A Suitable Boy (1993) is the story of relations among four Indian families. It is set in India in the early 1950’s, just after independence. The novel, one of the longest in the English language, sets the stories of its main characters against a wide exploration of Indian society. In 1999, Seth wrote An Equal Music, a novel about love in the different settings of London; Vienna, Austria; and Venice, Italy.
Seth’s books of poetry include Mappings (1980), The Humble Administrator’s Garden (1985), All You Who Sleep Tonight (1990), and The Poems: 1981-1994 (1995). Beastly Tales from Here and There (1992) is a collection of folk tales from around the world told in verse. From Heaven Lake (1983) is a humorous travel book about Seth’s travels through China. He also wrote the libretto (text) to the British composer Alec Roth’s operetta Arion and the Dolphin (1994). Seth wrote a children’s book based on the libretto in 1995.
Seth was born on June 20, 1952, in Calcutta (now Kolkata), India. He was educated at the Doon School in Uttaranchal (now Uttarakhand), India, and at Tonbridge School in Kent, in the United Kingdom. He studied politics, philosophy, and economics at Corpus Christi College, Oxford University, receiving a B.A. degree in 1975 and an M.A. degree in 1978. He also earned an M.A. degree at Stanford University, in California, in 1977.
