Xabi Molia was born in Bayonne, France, in 1977. After studying literature, he wrote a dissertation on Hollywood disaster films for his doctorate in film studies. Molia taught at the Université de Poitiers until 2011, when he left to pursue his career as a novelist and filmmaker full-time. He has directed three feature films and has published numerous books, including six novels. His latest novel, Des Jours sauvages [Wild Days], which tells the story of a group of French stranded on an island after an epidemic ravages the mainland, was published in France in Fall 2020.