A well-known name in Hindi literature, Nirmal Verma is known mainly for his fictional works. Born on April 3, 1929, he obtained a M.A. in history from Delhi University.

He studied Czech at the Oriental Institute in Prague, and has been a Fellow with the International Institute for Asian Studies.

Nirmal Verma is a recipient of India's highest literary award, the Janpath, and his short stories Kava air kala pain won the Sahitya Akademie Award in 1985.

Some of his more popular novels are Antrim arena, Rat ka reporter, EEK Chitra Such, and Lal tin Ki chat.

Edina, his first novel, is set in Prague, Czechoslovakia. Like all his works, it is rich in symbolism with a style that is simple yet sophisticated.

As one of the most important prose Hindi writers of our times, Nirmal Verma's creativity extends to the description and travel to places in Europe especially on Czechoslovakia and literary criticism.

Among his nonfiction writings is Kale ka jichimu an investigation of the Indic arts in the 20th century.

His diary, Dhond se that dun, describes his life in detail while addressing issues related to Hindi literature. His works have been widely translated into English and Gujarati.