Born on September 28, 1940, in the village of Kalour, District Fatehgarh Sahib, Punjab, Karnail Singh Somal is a renowned Punjabi prose-writer. His father's name is Prem Singh and his mother's name is Surjeet Kaur. Despite financial difficulties, his passion for education led him to pursue his studies privately.

He completed his M.A. in Punjabi and Hindi, standing third in the university, and later earned his Ph.D. from Punjab University. The topic of his thesis was "A Study of Free Verse in Punjabi (up to 1950)".

Somal began his career as a school teacher. He later joined the Punjab School Education Board as a Language Expert. About two years later, he was selected as Assistant Director in the Punjabi Teaching And Research Section of the Board. His main contribution was in writing and editing Punjabi textbooks. He retired from that post in September 1998.

Somal has been writing for leading Punjabi newspapers for more than 35 years. He wrote literary essays, contributed to various Punjabi newspapers and journals, and wrote stories and poems for children. He did research work on Bhai Ditt Singh Giani. Some of his notable prose books include 'Zindagi Utsav Hai' (Life is a Celebration), 'Jeevan Jugtan Di Talash' (Search for Life Strategies), and 'Jiuna Apni Mauj Vich' (Living in One's own Joy).

Somal is the recipient of the prestigious Sahitya Akademi Award (Bal Sahitya Puraskar 2020) for his book in Punjabi 'Phoolaan da shehar'.

He married Salinder Kaur in 1966. They have two daughters- Manpreet Kaur (born in 1969) and Jagpreet Kaur (born in 1973).