Brenda Navarro

Brenda Navarro is a Mexican writer, sociologist, and economist. She writes about women’s labour, migration, and digital rights. She is best known for her novels Empty Houses (2018) and Ceniza en la boca (2022), which explore loss, violence, and displacement.

Brenda Navarro was born in Mexico City in 1982. She studied sociology and economics at the National Autonomous University of Mexico and later earned a master’s degree in gender and citizenship from the University of Barcelona. She now lives in Madrid.

In 2016, she founded #EnjambreLiterario, a collective supporting women writers. “I enjoy writing, and through the creative process, I’ve found a sense of meaning in life,” she said in an interview. Her work examines social structures and personal struggles, often focusing on characters in extreme situations.

Her first novel, Empty Houses, was published in 2018. It tells the story of two women connected by a child’s disappearance and reflects on motherhood and violence in Mexico. The book won the English Pen Translation Award in 2019 and has been translated into several languages.

Her second novel, Ceniza en la boca, was released in 2022. It follows a young woman dealing with the death of her brother, exploring Ulysses syndrome, a stress disorder linked to migration. The novel received the XLII Premio Tigre Juan and the Premio Cálamo. “I don’t think literature helps solve anything. At best, it sparks conversations,” she said about the book’s themes.

Navarro has also written short stories, including El asalto a Raúl Castro (2011) and Jauría de perros (2015). She has worked as a journalist, editor, and scriptwriter, contributing to human rights and social justice discussions.

Her novels often focus on displacement and systemic inequality. “If you don’t take risks in what you write, then why are you writing?” she remarked. She believes fiction should challenge power structures and explore the hidden aspects of human experience.

Navarro’s books have been translated into multiple languages. “Sometimes translators involve me, sometimes I don’t even find out until the last moment,” she said.

Brenda Navarro lives in Madrid. She is now working on her third novel, which will continue themes from Ceniza en la boca.