Ved Mehta (1934–2021) was an Indian-born writer and journalist whose work made a significant contribution to modern nonfiction. Over a career spanning several decades, he wrote in many genres including autobiography, biography, political commentary, memoir, travel, reportage, and literary essays, developing a style characterised by clarity and careful observation.

Mehta lost his sight at the age of three due to cerebrospinal meningitis. He was educated in India, the US, and the UK, studying at Pomona College and Balliol College, University of Oxford, and later at Harvard University.

Mehta was a staff writer at The New Yorker for more than thirty years. During that time, he wrote on a wide range of subjects, including Indian political life and British intellectual culture, producing essays, profiles, and extended works of nonfiction.

He is particularly associated with his autobiographical series Continents of Exile, published in a dozen volumes over more than thirty years. These works combine personal history with broader social and cultural reflection, offering an exploration of memory, family, exile and the shaping of identity across continents.

Selected obituaries and tributes:
The Guardian ·  The New Yorker ·  Royal Society of Literature · New York Times

A website with further information about Ved Mehta and his work will be available in August at www.vedmehta.com.