Alex Riley is an award-winning science writer, and A Cure for Darkness is his first book. In 2019, he received a best feature award from the Association of British Science Writers for his reporting on The Friendship Bench, a project that began in Zimbabwe in 2006. His articles have been published by New Scientist, Mosaic, Aeon, NOVA Next, Hakai, Nautilus Magazine, and the BBC. He lives in Bristol, UK.