Vikram Seth is an Indian novelist, poet and travel writer and one of the best known English language Indian writers of our time. Best known for his epic novel A Suitable Boy, Seth has been writing for three decades, although notably and famously suffered from writer’s block in recent times.
Born in Calcutta (now Kolkata) on 20th June 1952 Seth studied in India, moving to England to complete his A-levels at Tonbridge School. From here Seth headed to Oxford where he obtained a degree in Philosophy, Politics and Economics.
His professional life has been well documented. Vikram Seth’s first published works was a collection of poems ‘Mappings’ in 1980 that was slated by critics. From here he headed to China for field research and his second book, From Heaven Lake is an account of his hitchhiking from China to India. This book was critically acclaimed and secured Seth’s place as a serious author.
From here several collections of poetry and novels followed until in 1993 the epic novel A Suitable Boy was published, by far Seth’s most famous work. A follow on novel A Suitable Girl would bring problems and controversy for the author as he suffered writer’s block and in the end had to give back his advance for the novel to Penguin. A Suitable Girl is still unpublished though the most recent news on the author is that A Suitable Boy is to be adapted for television.
Seth is openly gay and in 2006 became the leader of a campaign against section 377 of the Indian Penal Code, a law against sodomy. Seth was famously in a relationship with Philippe Honore, French violinist and they lived together for eleven years in Seth’s home in Salisbury.
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