ABSTRACT
Throughout his career, which began with the publication of Mappings
(1980), his first volume of poetry, Vikram Seth has written fiction for both
adults and children, poetry, travel narratives, translations and even a
libretto, Arion and the Dolphin (1994), which was performed by the
English National Opera. The book which followed was a travel narrative,
an autobiographical tale of his journey from Nepal to India entitled From
Heaven Lake (1983) which emphasized that his influences and interests
extended beyond the Indian border. He returned to poetry, publishing The
Humble Administrator’s Garden (1985), which was structured around
the plants of China, India and California, and for which he won the
Commonwealth Prize for Poetry, and All You Who Sleep Tonight (1990),
which combined Seth’s sharp humour with the dark side of history, espe-
cially Hiroshima and the Holocaust. This was followed by Beastly Tales
from Here and There (1991) and Three Chinese Poets (1992).
