Vikram was born in 1952, an Indian novelist and poet, much of whose writing is based on his experiences of the very different societies of India, China, and America. His best-known book is the novel A Suitable Boy (1993).

Seth was born in Calcutta (now Kolkata) to Hindu parents. He was educated at English schools in India prior to attending Corpus Christi College at the University of Oxford, in England. He received a B.A. degree from Oxford; M.A. degrees from Stanford University, in California, and Oxford; and a graduate study diploma from Nanjing University in Eastern China.

Seth's early works include the poetry collection The Humble Administrator's Garden (1983) and a travel journal of a hitchhiking trip, From Heaven Lake: Travels Through Sinkiang and Tibet (1983). He wrote the novel The Golden Gate (1986) in verse form, as a series of sonnets.

It focuses on a group of young California professionals in the 1980s. Other works include the poetry volume All You Who Sleep Tonight (1990) and a children's book of retellings of traditional poetry and fables, Beastly Tales from Here and There (1992).

In 1993 A Suitable Boy was published to great acclaim. The book, which won one of Britain's annual literary prizes, the W. H. Smith Award, is the story of an Indian mother's search for a suitable match for her daughter. The tale is set against the panoramic backdrop of life in India just after the country gained independence from Britain in 1947.

Vikram Seths poems are :
• All You who Sleep Tonight
• At Evening
• Distressful Homonyms
• From California
• Interpretation
• Prandial Plaint
• Progress Report
• Promise
• Protocols
• Research in Jiangsu Province
• Round and Round
• The Wind
• Unclaimed

Prizes and awards
• 1983 Thomas Cook Travel Book Award From Heaven Lake: Travels Through Sinkiang and Tibet
• 1985 Commonwealth Poetry Prize (Asia) The Humble Administrator's Garden
• 1993 Irish Times International Fiction Prize A Suitable Boy
• 1994 Commonwealth Writers Prize (Overall Winner, Best Book) A Suitable Boy
• 1994 WH Smith Literary Award A Suitable Boy
• 2001 EMMA (BT Ethnic and Multicultural Media Award) for Best Book/Novel An Equal Music