JACQUELINE CROOKS

Presentation of 'Prende fuego' (Colectivo Bruxista)

Jacqueline Crooks grew up in the London borough of Southall in the 1970s and 1980s. She was part of the migrant community that made its way from the suburbs of the British capital through music, culture and politics. Writing her first novel, Fire Rush, took her more than sixteen years. The book tells the story of Yamaye, a young Anglo-Jamaican woman and her transformative journey, which takes her from Bristol’s underworld to Jamaica, where past and present collide with explosive consequences.

Fire Rush won the PEN America Literary Award and was shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction, the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize, the Jhalak Prize, the Paul Torday Memorial Prize, and the Authors’ Club Best First Novel Award. It was also chosen as Best First Novel of the Year by The Observer.

Kiko Amat (Sant Boi de Llobregat, 1971) is the author of the novels El día que me vaya no se lo diré a nadie (2003), Cosas que hacen BUM (2007), Rompepistas (2009), Eres el mejor, Cienfuegos (2012), Antes del huracán (2018), Revancha (2021) and Dick o la tristeza del sexo (2025), all published by Anagrama. He is also the author of three non-fiction books: Mil violines (2011), Chap chap (2015) and Los enemigos: O cómo sobrevivir al odio y aprovechar la enemistad (2022). He currently co-writes and co-hosts the podcast Pop y Muerte (Radio Primavera Sound).

Jandro Alvargonzález is a Spanish editor from Asturias and co-founder of Colectivo Bruxista, a publishing house specialising in subcultures, essays and marginal narratives. He began as a translator, proofreader and bookseller, and has collaborated with a number of independent publishing houses. He also appears on the Los Lanzallamas radio programme on dublab BCN and performs as a DJ at events tied to black music.