Siphiwo Mahala is a South African writer, editor and academic. He is a graduate of the University of Fort Hare, holds a Masters degree in African Literature from Wits University and a PhD in English Literature from the University of South Africa. His research interests include Contemporary African Literature, Colonial and Post-Colonial Literature, Black Intellectual History, Short Story Writing as well as Creative Writing. He is the author of the novel, When a Man Cries (2007), two short story collections, African Delights (2011) and Red Apple Dreams and Other Stories (2019), and two critically acclaimed plays, The House of Truth (2016) and Bloke and His American Bantu (2021). His latest book Can Themba: The Making and Breaking of the Intellectual Tsotsi (2022), is an appendage of his doctoral research. He serves as the Deputy Chairperson of the National Arts Festival board. He is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Johannesburg, Senior Fellow at the Johannesburg Institute for Advanced Study, and editor of Imbiza Journal for African Writing.