Baidar Bakht, born in 1940, took his first degree in civil engineering from Aligarh, and M.Sc. and D.Sc from London University. He is a bridge engineer by profession, but now retired from full-time employment. He is Adjunct Professor of civil engineering at the universities of Toronto and Manitoba. He is renowned for his translations of modern Urdu poetry into English. Since 1974, Baidar Bakht has been living in Toronto, Canada, with his family.