Keki N. Daruwalla is counted among the major English writers from India. He writes poems, short stories and novels. He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award, in 1984 for his poetry collection, "The Keeper of the Dead". Most recently in 2014, he was honoured with Padma Shri by government of India for his overall contributions to Indian literature. He has authored 12 books. J. P. Dutta's Bollywood film Refugee, which marked the screen debut actors Abhishek Bachchan and Kareena Kapoor is inspired from Daruwalla’s story – Love across the salt desert. He is also a recipient of Commonwealth Poetry Award for Asia. Keki Nasserwanji Daruwalla was born in Lahore in 1937. He obtained his master's degree in English Literature from Government College, Ludhiana, University of Punjab. 

As a writer his first book was published in 1970. It was a collection of poetry titled - Under Orion. The work was warmly welcomed by readers as well as critics. The following year he published his second anthology of poems – Apparition. Then he published 7 more poetry collections in a literray career spanning to more than three decades. Sword & abyss: a collection of short stories. A House in Ranikhet, Winter poems, The Keeper of the Dead, The Scarecrow and the Ghost, Crossing of rivers, Landscapes, The Map-maker: Poems, A summer of tigers: poems, The Minister for Permanent unrest & other stories and Night river: poems are other major works.