I’m delighted to see that Óscar Martínez has just picked up the Marisa Giorgetti International Prize for the Italian edition of The Beast, his riveting account of the hellish journeys made by Latin American migrants intent on una vida mejor – a better life – in the United States.

I hadn’t heard of Giorgetti until Martínez’s win, but it sounds as though she was a remarkable woman, working quietly in pursuit of human rights and finding rooms in her own home in Trieste over 20 years for refugees, including those fleeing conflict in the Balkans. The prize, set up in her memory, is for people who have contributed significantly to the promotion of human rights and the protection of the persecuted.

I can’t recommend Martínez’s book highly enough. You can still read an extract on Deskbound Traveller.