Brenda Navarro (Mexico City, February 26, 1982) is a Mexican writer, sociologist, and economist residing in Madrid. She is known for her novels Empty Houses (2018) and Ash in the Mouth (2022), works that explore themes such as migration, inequality, violence, and the search for identity.
Navarro studied Sociology and Economics at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and completed a master's degree in Gender Studies, Women, and Citizenship at the University of Barcelona. She has worked in various non-governmental organizations related to human rights, such as Article 19 Mexico Chapter and the UNESCO Chair on Human Rights at UNAM. Additionally, she founded the #LiterarySwarm project, focused on publishing works written by Latin American women.
In Ash in the Mouth, Navarro tells the story of a young migrant who faces the suicide of her teenage brother in Madrid. The novel addresses the structural violence that migrants endure, such as racism, xenophobia, and discrimination, and reflects on identity, mourning, and resilience. The author has expressed that writing this book profoundly transformed her, recognizing that her works can change both readers and herself.
Ash in the Mouth received the Book of the Year Award from the Madrid Bookstores and the Cálamo Book of the Year Award. It was also a finalist for the Mario Vargas Llosa Biennial Novel Prize. The novel has been recognized for its intense, visceral, and devastating prose, and for its ability to address universal themes from an intimate and personal perspective.
Brenda Navarro continues to be a prominent voice in contemporary literature, committed to making visible the experiences of women and migrants, and to denouncing the social injustices that affect the most vulnerable communities.
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