Helon Habila was born in Nigeria. He worked as a journalist in Lagos before moving to the University of East Anglia in the U.K. as a Writing Fellow in 2002. He writes both poetry and prose, and his writing has won, among other awards, the Caine Prize for African Writing, the Commonwealth Writers Prize, and the Emily Balch Short Story Prize. Habila is the author of three novels: Waiting for an Angel, Measuring Time, and Oil on Water. He teaches creative writing at George Mason University in Virginia. (updated 10/2010)