queen_cocaine_amat
2007 Nominated

Queen Cocaine

artwork-image

ABOUT
THE BOOK

Queen Cocaine takes place amid the violence that rules everyday life in Colombia. In the remote Pacific Coast jungle, a region of incessant rain that is ravaged by the drug trade and by civil war, the army, the guerrillas, and the drug traffickers spin a perilous web in which the three main characters who inhabit this novel are caught: Rat, a young Catalan woman who has recently arrived in Colombia; Aida, a local visionary who is adept at weaving spells, and Wilson, a writer and journalist persecuted because of his ideas and tormented by his own frustrations

ABOUT
THE AUTHOR Nuria
Amat

Núria Amat was born in Barcelona in 1951. She has since lived in Colombia, Mexico, Berlin, Paris, and the United States.

Amat teaches courses on Archival Sciences and Technology and is a professor of Library Studies at the University of Barcelona. She oversees the Vidas Literarias series, a collection of biographies of the most celebrated authors.

Her novel El país del almazas was a Rómulo Gallegos Award finalist in 2001; Reina de América won Barcelona’s Premi Ciutat in 2002 and is available in English under the title Queen Cocaine.

Núria Amat was born in Barcelona in 1951. She has since lived in Colombia, Mexico, Berlin, Paris, and the United States.

Amat teaches courses on Archival Sciences and Technology and is a professor of Library Studies at the University of Barcelona. She oversees the Vidas Literarias series, a collection of biographies of the most celebrated authors.

Her novel El país del almazas was a Rómulo Gallegos Award finalist in 2001; Reina de América won Barcelona’s Premi Ciutat in 2002 and is available in English under the title Queen Cocaine.

ABOUT
THE TRANSLATOR Peter
Bush

Peter Bush is a translator. His first literary translation was Juan Goytisolo’s Forbidden Territory (North Point Press, 1989) and, to date, Bush has translated eleven other titles in Goytisolo’s bibliography, including The Marx Family Saga and Exiled from Almost Everywhere. He has translated many Catalan writers including Josep Pla, Mercè Rodoreda, Joan Sales, Najat El Hachmi and Teresa Solana. His most recent effort is A Film (3000 meters) by Víctor Català, the classic 1919 feminist novel set in Barcelona’s criminal underworld. Bush lives and works in Bristol.

Peter Bush is a translator. His first literary translation was Juan Goytisolo’s Forbidden Territory (North Point Press, 1989) and, to date, Bush has translated eleven other titles in Goytisolo’s bibliography, including The Marx Family Saga and Exiled from Almost Everywhere. He has translated many Catalan writers including Josep Pla, Mercè Rodoreda, Joan Sales, Najat El Hachmi and Teresa Solana. His most recent effort is A Film (3000 meters) by Víctor Català, the classic 1919 feminist novel set in Barcelona’s criminal underworld. Bush lives and works in Bristol.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Country
Spain
Original Language
Spanish
Author
Publisher
City Lights Publishers
Translator
Peter Bush

RELATED FEATURES

Video August 27 2026

2026 Dublin Literary Award Winner in Conversation

Watch 2026 Dublin Literary Award winner, Ali Smith, and author Belinda McKeon in conversation, which took place on 22nd May 2026 at the Dublin International Literature Festival
Video August 27 2026

2026 Dublin Literary Award Ceremony

Watch back the 2026 Dublin Literary Award Ceremony which took place on 21st May 2026
News May 21 2026

2026 Dublin Literary Award Winner Revealed

Discover this year's winner!
Video May 16 2026

Brigitte Giraud – Live Fast Q&A

Q&A Session with 2026 Dublin Literary Award shortlisted author Brigitte Giraud, author of Live Fast, exploring the inspirations behind her novel.

STAY CONNECTED

Stay in touch and sign up to our newsletter to receive all the latest news and updates on the Dublin Literary Award.