Layla Martínez, born in Madrid in 1987, is an editor at the independent press Levanta Fuego and a writer. She is the author of the acclaimed essay Utopía no es una isla [translated into English as Utopia Is Not an Island] and the novel Carcoma [translated to English as Woodworm], which won the Ignotus Awards for Best Novella and the Breakthrough Award at the 42 Festival. Her work has been translated into seventeen languages, nominated for the National Book Award and is currently being adapted for both stage and screen. She has received writing fellowships from the Finestres Foundation and the Montserrat Roig programme. Martínez is currently finishing up her second essay, El reino intermedio [The In-Between Realm], and writing a second novel.