Mwenda Mbatiah is a novelist, critic, and scholar of Swahili language and literature. His novels include Msururu wa usaliti (2008), Vipanya vya maabara (2007), Wimbo mpya (2004), and Upotevu (1999), and he edited and contributed to the short-story collection Kurudi nyumbani na hadithi nyingine (2007).