Siphiwe Ndlovu is a writer, filmmaker and academic who holds a PhD in Modern Thought and Literature from Stanford University, as well as master's degrees in African Studies and Film. She has published research on Saartjie Baartman and she wrote, directed and edited the award-winning short film Graffiti. Born in Zimbabwe, she worked as a teacher in Johannesburg before returning to Zimbabwe. The Theory of Flight is her first novel and won the Barry Longwe Prize for Debut fiction in South Africa.