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Layla Martínez

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Layla Martínez
Born1987
Madrid, Spain
OccupationWriter and columnist
LanguageSpanish
NationalitySpanish
EducationComplutense University of Madrid, University of Alcalá
Genrehorror, poetry
Notable worksSurrogate Pregnancy (2019)
Utopia Is Not an Island (2020)
Woodworm (2021)

Layla Martínez (Madrid, 1987)[1] is a Spanish writer and columnist known for her horror novel Woodworm, as well as the essay Utopia Is Not an Island.

Biography

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She was born in 1987 in Madrid to a family from Cuenca. She graduated with a degree in political science from the Complutense University of Madrid and later gained a master's degree in sexology from the University of Alcalá.[1][2]

In 2012, she published The Book of Cruelty (El libro de la cruelidad), a book of poems; in 2015 she released The Songs of the Sleepers (Las canciones de los durmientes). In 2018, she won the José Ángel Valente Faculty Poetry Prize for her work Cineraria.[2][3]

In 2020, she published the essay Utopia Is Not an Island (Utopía no es una isla),[4] which reflects on the relationship between the way a society imagines the future and the cultural products that it consumes.[5][6]

In 2021, she published Carcoma (translated into English as Woodworm by Sophie Hughes and Annie McDermott in 2024).[7] This novel examines themes of gender-based and class-based violence through horror, set in the time of the Spanish Civil War.[8] The work was a finalist for Semana Negra de Gijón's Celsius Prize for Spanish-language science fiction and fantasy and won her an award as the best new Spanish-language author of the year at Festival 42 in 2022.[9]

She has also written for periodicals such as elDiario.es, Público, and El Salto.[10][11][12] She is the co-director of Antipersona, an independent publisher.[13]

Works

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  • The Book of Cruelty (El libro de la cruelidad, 2012)
  • The Songs of the Sleepers (Las canciones de los durmientes, 2015)
  • Cineraria (2019)
  • Utopia Is Not an Island (Utopía no es una isla, 2020)
  • Woodworm (Carcoma, 2021; English translation 2024)

References

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  1. ^ a b "Los fantasmas de la Alcarria conquense revividos por Layla Martínez "carcomen" Latinoamérica y llegan incluso a Corea". www.europapress.es. 2023-04-23. Retrieved 2023-10-06.
  2. ^ a b "Layla Martínez gana el III Premio de la Facultad José Ángel Valente". www.lavozdealmeria.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-10-06.
  3. ^ "La obra 'Cineraria' de Layla Martínez gana el III Premio de la Facultad Valente". UAL News (in Spanish). 2018-12-20. Retrieved 2023-10-06.
  4. ^ "Layla Martínez: "A veces la ficción permite contar las cosas de una forma más real que el ensayo"". www.elsaltodiario.com. Retrieved 2023-10-06.
  5. ^ S.L, EDICIONES PLAZA. "'Utopía no es una isla': ¿Por qué es más fácil imaginar el fin del mundo que un futuro mejor?". Cultur Plaza (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-10-06.
  6. ^ "Aixa de la Cruz: "El compromiso político de una escritora también pasa por crear utopías"". Cultur Plaza (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-10-06.
  7. ^ "Layla Martínez presenta 'Carcoma'". RTVE.es (in Spanish). 2022-01-27. Retrieved 2023-10-06.
  8. ^ Gómez, Andrés (2023-03-26). "Layla Martínez, escritora: "La casa es un lugar donde ha habido mucha violencia, y el terror es útil para visibilizarla"". La Tercera. Retrieved 2023-10-06.
  9. ^ "Layla Martínez". Festival 42. 2023-11-10. Retrieved 2024-04-23.
  10. ^ Martínez, Layla (2023-08-15). "Una semana normal". elDiario.es (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-10-06.
  11. ^ Layla Martínez (2023-03-22). "El retorno de la clase". Público (in Spanish). Retrieved 2023-10-06.
  12. ^ "Layla Martínez, autora de 'Carcoma': "El género de terror es una herramienta genial para hablar de traumas colectivos"". Vogue España (in European Spanish). 2022-02-09. Retrieved 2023-10-06.
  13. ^ "Layla Martínez | Center for the Art of Translation | Two Lines Press". Retrieved 2024-04-23.