Together with Lojze Kovačič and Drago Jančar, he is considered one of the foremost Slovenian modernist writers of the post-World War II period.

Šeligo was born in a Slovene family in Sušak,[1] Kingdom of Yugoslavia, now part of the city of Rijeka, Croatia.

When the journal was forced to close down by the Communist regime, Šeligo entered a "creative strike", refusing to publish any of his works for two years.

In a period of social and political ferment, Šeligo used his position to transform the association in an open platform of public debate, promoting the values of pluralism and democracy.

His early novels were under the influence of the French Nouveau roman, and were characterized by thick descriptions and anti-psychologic attitude.