Karnail Singh Somal

He was born in village Kalour, District Fatehgarh Sahib (erstwhile in District. Patiala), Punjab, on 28 September 1940, as per school record. However, as per his mother, he was born in the early morning of Maghi, first day of the month of Magh. His father's name is Prem Singh and mother's name is Surjeet Kaur.

He got his early education in his village Govt. Lower Middle school and National Middle school. He matriculated from Govt. High School Bassi Pathana in 1958. As he could not continue his education further, he got a petty job. However, his yearning for education led him to pursue his studies privately. He did his M.A. in Punjabi(standing third in the university) and M.A. in Hindi. Later on he got his PhD from Punjab University. The topic of his thesis was "A Study of Free Verse in Punjabi (up to 1950)".

As he had done O.T. and BEd, so he started working as a school teacher. Thereafter, he joined Punjab School Education Board as Language Expert. About two years later he was selected as Assistant Director in Punjabi Teaching And Research Section of the Board. There his main contribution was in writing and editing Punjabi text-books. He retired from that post in September 1998.

He married Salinder Kaur in 1966. They are blessed with two daughters- Manpreet Kaur (1969) and Jagpreet Kaur(1973).

He has been writing for leading Punjabi newspapers for more than 35 years. He wrote literary essays, contributed to various Punjabi newspapers and journals. He wrote stories and poems for children. He did research work on Bhai Ditt Singh Giani.