Helon Habila was born in Nigeria. He teaches creative writing at George Mason University in Virginia, USA. He is the author of four novels, Waiting for an Angel (2001), Measuring Time (2008), Oil on Water (2011), and Travelers (2019). He is also the editor of several anthologies including The Granta Book of African Short Story (2011). His nonfiction book, The Chibok Girls, was published in 2016.