Laia Jufresa (Mexico, 1983) is a fiction writer. She is the author of the short story collection El esquinista (Tierra Adentro, 2014) and the novel Umami (Literatura Random House, 2015). Her work has appeared in anthologies and magazines such as Letras Libres, McSweeney’s, Pen Atlas and Words Without Borders. She was a fellow of the FONCA Young Artists Programme and of the Foundation for Mexican Literature. In 2014 she was invited to write chronicles for the Crossing Border Festival in The Hague, and in 2015 she was invited by the British Council Literature to be the first ever International Writer in Residence at Hay Festival in Wales. Laia was named as one of the most outstanding young writers in Mexico as part of the 2015 project México20, the anthology of which is published by Pushkin Press. In 2016, Umami will be published in English worldwide (Oneworld Publications) and in French (Buchet Chastel).

 

Photo: © Claudia Leal