Laia Jufresa is a Mexican author based in Scotland. Her first novel, UMAMI, has been translated into nine languages and won a PEN Translates Award and a Best First Novel award in France. In 2015 Laia was invited by British Council Literature to be the first ever International Writer in Residence at Hay Festival in Wales. Her work has been featured in Vogue, Words Without Borders, El País and McSweeneys. She has written for Netflix and the BBC and produced picture books for children. Jufresa has been named as one of the most outstanding young writers of Mexico and of Latin America. She lives in Edinburgh, where she also works as a transformational coach for artists and self-employed people.

Image: Laia Jufresa (photography by Claudia Leal)