Born in Surat, Gujarat, India, on September 1, 1931, Ahmed Essop emigrated to South Africa in 1934 and received his education from Johannesburg Indian High School, Fordsburg. He earned a B.A. from the University of South Africa in 1956 and a B.A. in English Hons. in 1964. He taught at a secondary school, Eldorado Park, Johannesburg, from 1980 to 1985. As a critic of apartheid, Essop was banned from teaching by authorities; after that, he devoted himself totally to creative writing. Essop began his literary career with the publication of The Dark Goddess in 1959. The Hajji and Other Stories (1978) also published later as Hajji Musa and Hindu Fire-Walker, Noorjehan and Other Stories (1990), The King of Hearts and Other Stories (1997/1998), and Narcissus and Other Stories (2002) are his four prominent short story collections.