The eleven years that Seth lived in the US, studying at Stanford University, were very productive. He was able to write and publish two volumes of poetry, a travelogue, a verse novel and learn Chinese. He could not however finish his PhD thesis. In 1986, after the publication of The Golden Gate, he made up his mind to return home to India. We must remember that he decided to leave America when he had made a name for himself there and was the toast of literary meets for his astonishing accomplishment in using the sonnet form for a verse novel. His decision to return home to his parents' house in Delhi was governed by a feeling that he had been away for far too long: he was missing the company of his family to whom he had always been very close (Two Lives 39). He also aimed to write a novel set in post-Independence India, based on the theme of a mother's search for a suitable boy for her daughter. This theme had autobiographical elements which we shall examine below. Seth thought it might be a short novel of around two hundred to three hundred pages and that he would finish it in a year or two. However, the original theme was to expand exponentially. It was 1987, Vikram Seth was 35 years old and the novel was published in 1993. He was to say later that A Suitable Boy, a massive novel, carved a huge chunk from his 30s (Guardian Talk).

Contemporary Indian Writers in English (CIWE) presents critical commentaries on some of the best-known names in the genre. With the high visibility of Indian Writing in English in academic, critical, pedagogic and readerly circles, there is a perceivable demand for lucid yet rigorous introductions to several of its authors and genres. Indian Writing in English, in each of its genres – fiction, poetry, non-fiction and drama – has a diversity of themes, forms and styles. CIWE titles explore precisely this rich diversity. Attention to the narrative form of the novels/poems is accompanied by a detailed reading of the central themes in the author's works. The plan of the series is to provide as complete a survey of an author's oeuvre as possible, within a manageable length.

CIWE seeks to strike a balance between providing an introductory study and a critical appraisal of the writer's work. The former serves the informed, non-specialist reader, while the latter suits the academic essay/seminar/assignment in literature classrooms. The theoretical approaches are wide-ranging – from structural analysis of narrative to feminist literary criticism. The entire oeuvre of the author is examined, so that every text in the series can be used as a comprehensive introduction to the author as a whole. Every text in the series provides biographical information, close textual analysis, a survey of the author's chief thematic concerns, bibliographic information for the ones who wish to pursue further reading, and a comprehensive list of topics for discussion. The last is meant to aid further reflection on the author or text, and is indicative of the potential every author in the Indian Writing in English ‘canon’ possesses.

The very first work that Seth published was a book of poems and it is poetry that forms a significant part of his writing. This chapter examines chronologically all the books of poetry that Seth has published so far. These include Mappings (1981), The Humble Administrator's Garden (1983), All You Who Sleep Tonight (1990), Beastly Tales From Here and There (1991), Three Chinese Poets (1992) and the libretto Arion and the Dolphin (1994).

The striking feature of Seth's poetry is its craft. He has been called a neo-formalist and been hailed as the writer of polished poetry. He uses rhyme and metre, and older forms of verse such as the sonnet, in an age when free verse is the dominant style. The dogged and cheerful confidence in the enjoyment of verse is reflected in Seth's continued use of rhyme and metre for his poetry. Along with such ‘traditional’ forms of older poetry, he employs contemporary idiom and a modern speaking self. This blend of styles results in an unusual aesthetics. Another departure from the norm is that the modern voice of his poems is not particularly interested in itself: the self is firmly effaced from his poems. Seth can write of the ordinary and the commonplace with a great deal of ease. There is a lightness of touch even when he reflects on more serious subjects, which makes for wonderfully refreshing poetry.

These factors that characterize Seth's poetic oeuvre may in turn be traced back to Seth's non-academic apprenticeship in literature in general and poetry in particular.