Woodworm by Layla Martínez in New York

Spanish author, translator, and publisher Layla Martínez presents her book “Woodworm” in a conversation with American poet and educator Melissa Lozada-Oliva.
Books Are Magic in Brooklyn welcomes Spanish writer Layla Martínez to discuss the English release of her debut novel, Woodworm, translated by Sophie Hughes and Annie McDermott. She will engage in conversation with Melissa Lozada-Oliva, author of Candelaria, considered one of the best books of 2023 by Vogue and USA Today. Woodworm is a class-conscious horror story described by award-winning writer Mariana Enriquez as “a house of women and shadows, built from poetry and revenge.” This portrayal of a fractured family in an unjust world empowers the eccentric, the radical, and the desperate.
Woodworm has been longlisted for the National Book Award for Translated Literature. Polygon named it a must-read book for Spring 2024, while The Millions listed it as one of the most anticipated books of the season.
Woodworm
The house breathes. The house contains bodies and secrets. The house is visited by ghosts, by angels that line the roof like insects, and by saints that burn the bedsheets with their haloes. It was built by a smalltime hustler as a means of controlling his wife, and even after so many years, their daughter and her granddaughter can’t leave. They may be witches or they may just be angry, but when the mysterious disappearance of a young boy draws unwanted attention, the two isolated women, already subjects of public scorn, combine forces with the spirits that haunt them in pursuit of something that resembles justice.
Wonderfully bizarre and ceaselessly creepy…an exceptionally gloomy tale of anger and isolation, filled with strangeness, and delivered with sharp and fast prose. Through it all, Martínez explores larger topics of class resentment and the lingering effects of evil. Intergenerational trauma and monsters share the spotlight in this terrific debut.
—Gabino Iglesias, The New York Times
What gives Woodworm its spark is its balanced complexity. So much is packed in and all of it unfurls like a silk ribbon. It’s a mystery. It’s a political commentary. It’s a genre-pleasing paranormal tale. Never is it too busy or distracted from its purpose. Every word is charged with menacing magic and readers will willingly fall victim to its curse.
—Fangoria
Layla Martínez
Layla Martínez (Madrid, 1987) is the author of two nonfiction books in Spanish, Surrogate Pregnancy (Pepitas de calabaza, 2019) and Utopia is not an Island (Episkaia, 2020), as well as stories and articles in numerous anthologies. She has translated essays and novels, writes about music for El Salto, and about television for La Última Hora. Since 2014 she has co-directed the independent publisher Antipersona. Woodworm is her debut novel.
Melissa Lozada-Oliva
Melissa Lozada-Oliva is the author of Dreaming of You and Candelaria, which was named one of the best books of 2023 by USA Today and Vogue. She cohosts a podcast called Say More. Her collection of short stories Beyond Reasonable Doubt, Jesus is Alive will be released Fall 2025. She holds her MFA from NYU and lives in Brooklyn.
About the translators
Sophie Hughes is a British literary translator who primarily translates from Spanish to English. She has translated more than a dozen books, including the works of José Revueltas and Enrique Vila-Matas for New Directions. She was shortlisted for the 2019 and 2020 International Booker Prize.
Annie McDermott is a translator working from Spanish and Portuguese. Her published and forthcoming translations include Empty Words and The Luminous Novel by Mario Levrero, Dead Girls and Brickmakers by Selva Almada, Feebleminded by Ariana Harwicz (co-translation with Carolina Orloff), and Loop by Brenda Lozano. She also reviews books for the Times Literary Supplement.