The thrilling unknown of what might materialise on a blank page is what fuels Javier Fuentes to write. He sees writing as a way to slow down and go through his days in a meaningful and purposeful manner to ultimately understand life a little bit better. Born in Barcelona and now based in New York, he elegantly utilises his lived experience of moving from Spain to the US to tell a ‘reverse migration story’ in his debut novel Countries of Origin (2023), which won the PEN/Hemingway Award for Debut Novel in 2024. With an MFA in Fiction from Columbia University and experience as a 2018 Lambda Literary Fellow, Javier crafts gripping stories that make us contemplate the meaning of homecoming, loss, desire and identity.