The daugh­ter of Iraqi-Jew­ish refugees, Saman­tha Ellis is the author of How to be a Hero­ine and Take Courage. Her plays include How to Date a Fem­i­nist, Cling to me Like Ivy and Oper­a­tion Mag­ic Car­pet. Her jour­nal­ism has appeared in the Guardian, the TLS, the Spec­ta­tor, Lit­er­ary Review and more. She worked on the first two Padding­ton films. She lives in London.