Bishnu Dey was a prominent Bengali poet, prose writer, translator, academic and art critic in the era of modernism, post-modernism. Starting off as a symbologist, he won recognition for the musical quality of his poems, and forms the post-Tagore generation of Bengali poets, like Buddhadeb Basu and Samar Sen, which marked the advent of "New Poetry" in Bengali literature, deeply influenced by Marxist ideology. He even published a poetry magazine for while wherein he encouraged socially conscious writing. His own work reveals a poet's solitary struggle, quest for human dignity, amidst a crisis of uprooted identity. Through his literary career, he taught English literature at various Calcutta colleges, Ripon College, Presidency College (1944–1947), Maulana Azad College (1947–1969) and Krishnanagar College. In the 1920s & 1930s, he was also remained a member of a young group of poets, centered on the Kallol (Commotion) magazine.

Bishnu Dey was born on 18 July 1909 in Calcutta, British India. He studied at Mitra Institution and Sanskrit Collegiate School, Calcutta. He did IA from Bangabashi College, Calcutta and completed his BA with Honours in English from St. Paul’s Cathedral Mission College. Later he took MA in English from the University of Calcutta. In 1935, he joined Ripon College, Calcutta as a professor. Later he worked as a professor in many colleges including Presidency College, Kolkata (1944–1947) and Maulana Azad College, Kolkata (1947–1969).