Elaine Vilar Madruga is a playwright, poet, and one of the foremost young novelists in Cuba. She has a degree in Playwriting from the Higher Institute of Art (ISA), has published over thirty books, and her work has appeared in numerous literary journals and anthologies around the globe. The Tyranny of Flies was her first work to receive widespread attention throughout the wider Spanish-speaking world, winning Spain's Cálamo Prize for "Book of the Year." She lives in Toronto.