Born in Botswana and raised in England, Warona Jay studied law at the University of Kent and King’s College London before switching to a creative writing PhD at Brunel. She was shortlisted for the Sony Young Movellist of the Year Award judged by Malorie Blackman as a teen, and longlisted for Penguin Random House’s WriteNow in 2020. The Grand Scheme of Things is her debut novel.