Courttia Newland is the author of several books including his much lauded debut, The Scholar. His latest novel is A River Called Time (2021). He co-edited The Penguin Book of New Black Writing in Britain, and his short stories have featured in various anthologies and broadcast on BBC Radio 4. He was shortlisted for the 2007 CWA Dagger in the Library Award and the 2010 Alfred Fagon Award. In 2016 he was also awarded the Tayner Barbers Award for science fiction writing and the Roland Rees Busary for playwriting. As a screenwriter, he has written episodes of Steve McQueen’s 2020 BBC series Small Axe.