Karina Sainz Borgo


Karina Sainz Borgo is a Venezuelan journalist and writer who has lived in Spain since 2006. Her books have been translated into more than thirty languages, and her stories have been published in magazines such as '.
Among Sainz's most important works are ', her first novel, which has been translated into more than twenty languages, and , which was awarded the Jan Michalski Prize. Along with authors such as Keila Vall de la Ville, Rodrigo Blanco Calderón,,, and Camilo Pino, she is part of what critics have called the "literature of the diaspora" or "exodus".

Early life and education

Karina Sainz Borgo was born in Caracas in 1982.
She was a student at the Andrés Bello Catholic University before emigrating to Spain in 2006. She continued her studies at the Complutense University of Madrid, and at the Universidad CEU San Pablo.

Career

Sainz Borgo is a reporter and columnist for the Spanish newspaper ABC; she has worked for Spanish media such as , Zenda, and Onda Cero. She is a cultural journalist and author of journalism books such as Caracas hip-hop and Tráfico y Guaire, el país y sus intelectuales.
In 2019, she published It Would Be Night in Caracas, her first novel, which has been translated into more than twenty languages. Time magazine included this title among the 100 most important books of 2019.
In her second book, Crónicas barbitúricas, she recounts her life in Madrid. In her 2021 novel, No Place to Bury the Dead, she revisits the myth of Antigone and the fundamental right that human beings have to bury their dead. Her 2023 fantasy novel, La isla del Doctor Schubert, with illustrations by Natàlia Pàmies, was a finalist for the Grand Continent Prize in 2023.

Awards and honours

Selected works

Non-fiction

Caracas hip-hop Tráfico y Guaire, el país y sus intelectuales Cuatro reportajes, dos décadas, una historia: Tráfico y Guaire, el país y sus intelectuales
  • ''Crónicas barbitúricas''

Novels

It Would Be Night in Caracas No Place to Bury the Dead
  • ''La isla del Doctor Schubert''