Subhash Jaireth was born in Punjab, India. Between 1969 and 1978 he lived in Russia studying geology and Russian literature. In 1986 he migrated to Australia. He has published poetry in Hindi, English and Russian.

His published works include three books of poems: Golee Lagne se Pahle (Before the Bullet Hit Me) (Vani Prakashan, 1994); Unfinished Poems for Your Violin (Penguin Australia, 1996); Yashodhara: Six Seasons Without You (Wild Peony, 2003); and five books of prose fiction and non-fiction: To Silence: Three Autobiographies (Puncher & Wattmann, 2011); After Love (Transit Lounge, 2012); Moments (Puncher & Wattmann, 2014); Incantations (Recent Work Press, 2016).

His most recent books include a collection of essays titled Spinoza’s Overcoat: Travels with Writers and Poets (Transit Lounge, 2020), which won the 2021 ACT Book of the Year, a book of translation from Hindi, Rain Clouds: Love Songs of Meerabai (Recent Work Press, 2020), and Aflame (Gazebo Books/Life Before Man, 2021).