Ralph Pordzik was educated at Bavink High School, Bielefeld, Germany (finishing in 1985). He did postgraduate research on intercultural relations in Africa at Bayreuth University (1997-1998), and researched utopian and dystopian fiction in English literatures at Munich University (1999-2001), where he became a Professor at the Institute for English Studies. He has published numerous books of criticism on various aspects of literary theory related to travel literature, utopian fiction and postcolonialism in Africa, none of which include Australian literature.