
Mexican literature stands as one of the most prolific and influential within Spanish-language literary traditions, alongside those of Spain and Argentina. This rich and diverse tradition spans centuries, encompassing a wide array of genres, themes, and voices that reflect the complexities of Mexican society and culture. From ancient indigenous myths to contemporary urban narratives, Mexican literature serves as a poignant reflection of the nation's essence, inviting readers to explore its rich history, diverse culture, and collective aspirations.
Propelled by visionary writers, Mexican literature has made an indelible mark on global literary discourse. From the
Baroque
The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
elegance of
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz's poetry to the modernist prose of
Carlos Fuentes
Carlos Fuentes Macías (; ; November 11, 1928 – May 15, 2012) was a Mexican novelist and essayist. Among his works are ''The Death of Artemio Cruz'' (1962), '' Aura'' (1962), '' Terra Nostra'' (1975), '' The Old Gringo'' (1985) and '' Christop ...
, Mexican authors adeptly explore themes of identity, history, social justice, and the human experience. Notable literary works such as
Juan Rulfo
Juan Nepomuceno Carlos Pérez Rulfo Vizcaíno, best known as Juan Rulfo (; 16 May 1917 – 7 January 1986), was a Mexican writer, screenwriter, and photographer. He is best known for two literary works, the 1955 novel ''Pedro Páramo'', and the ...
's haunting "
Pedro Páramo
''Pedro Páramo'' is a novel by Mexican writer Juan Rulfo, first published in 1955. This novel showcases the roots of Mexican culture and its beliefs on afterlife through deeply complex characters, spirituality, and a constant transition betwee ...
,"
Octavio Paz
Octavio Paz Lozano (March 31, 1914 – April 19, 1998) was a Mexican poet and diplomat. For his body of work, he was awarded the 1977 Jerusalem Prize, the 1981 Miguel de Cervantes Prize, the 1982 Neustadt International Prize for Literature, a ...
's introspective "
The Labyrinth of Solitude
''The Labyrinth of Solitude'' () is a 1950 book-length essay by the Mexican poet Octavio Paz. One of his most famous works, it consists of nine parts: "The Pachuco and other extremes", "Mexican Masks", "The Day of the Dead", "The Sons of La Mali ...
," and
Laura Esquivel
Laura Beatriz Esquivel Valdés (born 30 September 1950) is a Mexican novelist, screenwriter and politician, who served in the Chamber of Deputies for the Morena Party from 2015 to 2018. Her first novel ''Como agua para chocolate'' ('' Like Wat ...
's enchanting "
Like Water for Chocolate" showcase the depth and diversity of Mexican literary expression, garnering international acclaim for their profound insights into Mexican culture and society.
The Mexican Revolution of the early 20th century inspired a new generation of writers like
José Vasconcelos
José Vasconcelos Calderón (28 February 1882 – 30 June 1959), called the "cultural " of the Mexican Revolution, was an important Mexicans, Mexican writer, philosopher, and politician. He is one of the most influential and controversial pers ...
and
Mariano Azuela
Mariano Azuela González (January 1, 1873 – March 1, 1952) was a Mexican writer and medical doctor, best known for his fictional stories of the Mexican Revolution of 1910. He wrote novels, works for theatre and literary criticism. He is t ...
, capturing the spirit of the times in their works. During the mid-20th century Latin American literary boom, Mexican authors such as Octavio Paz, Carlos Fuentes, and Juan Rulfo gained global recognition for their contributions to world literature.
The Death of Artemio Cruz
''The Death of Artemio Cruz'' (, ) is an historical fiction novel published in 1962 by Mexican writer Carlos Fuentes. An English translation by Sam Hileman was published in 1964, and a new translation by Alfred MacAdam in 1991. It is considered t ...
(Spanish: "La muerte de Artemio Cruz") by Carlos Fuentes acclaimed novel, first published in 1962, explores themes of power, corruption, and identity in post-revolutionary Mexico. It has been translated into multiple languages and has garnered widespread critical acclaim. Other notable writers include:
Rosario Castellanos,
Sergio Pitol,
Alfonso Reyes,
José Emilio Pacheco
José Emilio Pacheco Berny (30 June 1939 – 26 January 2014) was a Mexican poet, essayist, novelist and short story writer. He is regarded as one of the major Mexican poets of the second half of the 20th century. The Berlin International Lit ...
, and
Elena Garro
Elena Garro (December 11, 1916 – August 22, 1998) was a Mexican author, playwright, screenwriter, journalist, short story writer, and novelist. She has been described as one of the pioneers and an early leading figure of the Magical Realism move ...
.
A movement of great relevance to the literary history of the country was the group known as "Los Contemporáneos," (The Contemporaries) who emerged during the 1930s. This group was formed by the journalist
Salvador Novo
Salvador Novo López (July 30, 1904 – January 13, 1974) was a Mexican writer, poet, playwright, translator, television presenter, entrepreneur, and the official chronicler of Mexico City. As a noted intellectual, he influenced popular percepti ...
and the poets
Xavier Villaurrutia
Xavier Villaurrutia y González (27 March 1903 – 25 December 1950) was a Mexican poet, playwright, translator, and literary critic whose most famous works are the short theatrical dramas called ''Autos profanos'', compiled in the work ''Poesía ...
and
José Gorostiza. By the second half of the 20th century, Mexican literature had diversified in themes, styles, and genres. New groups emerged, such as "La Onda" in the 1960s, which advocated for urban, satirical, and defiant literature. Among the notable authors were Parménides García Saldaña and
José Agustín
José Agustín Ramírez Gómez (19 August 1944 – 16 January 2024) was a Mexican novelist, short story writer, essayist and screenwriter. Publishing under the pen name José Agustín, he was considered one of the most influential and prolific Me ...
, as well as the group known as "La Mafia," which included Carlos Fuentes,
Salvador Elizondo
Salvador Elizondo Alcalde (December 19, 1932, in Mexico City – March 29, 2006) was a Mexican writer of the 60s Generation of Mexican literature.
Regarded as one of the creators of the most influential cult noirè, experimental, intelligent ...
, José Emilio Pacheco,
Carlos Monsiváis
Carlos Monsiváis Aceves (May 4, 1938 – June 19, 2010) was a Mexican philosopher, writer, critic, political activist, and journalist. He also wrote political opinion columns in leading newspapers within the country's progressive sectors. ...
,
Inés Arredondo,
Fernando Benítez, and others. The "Infrarrealistas" (Infrarealists) of the 1970s aimed to "blow the lid off official culture." In 1990, Octavio Paz became the only Mexican to date to win the
Nobel Prize in Literature
The Nobel Prize in Literature, here meaning ''for'' Literature (), is a Swedish literature prize that is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words of the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, "in ...
.
In present-day, Mexican literature continues to thrive, with writers like
Elena Poniatowska
Hélène Elizabeth Louise Amélie Paula Dolores Poniatowska Amor (born May 19, 1932), known professionally as Elena Poniatowska (), is a French-born Mexican journalist and author, specializing in works on social and political issues focused on ...
,
Yuri Herrera, and
Valeria Luiselli exploring themes of migration, urban life, and social justice with depth and nuance. Their works, alongside those of emerging voices, ensure that the tradition remains vibrant and relevant in the 21st century.
Hurricane Season by
Fernanda Melchor
Fernanda Melchor (born 1982, Veracruz (city), Veracruz, Mexico) is a Mexicans, Mexican writer best known for her novel ''Hurricane Season (novel), Hurricane Season'' for which she won the 2019 Anna Seghers Prize and a place on the shortlist for t ...
is a fiction novel that has made a significant impact on contemporary Mexican literature. Through its compelling narrative and exploration of societal issues, the book has garnered critical acclaim and contributed to ongoing literary discussions.
Introduction

Mexico's literature has its antecedents in the literatures of the indigenous peoples of
Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area that begins in the southern part of North America and extends to the Pacific coast of Central America, thus comprising the lands of central and southern Mexico, all of Belize, Guatemala, El S ...
and the
literary traditions of Spain. With the arrival of the Spanish, a new literature was produced through
''mestizaje'', which made way for a period of
creolization
Creolization is the process through which creole languages and cultures emerge. Creolization was first used by linguists to explain how contact languages become creole languages, but now scholars in other social sciences use the term to describe ...
of literature in the newly established
Viceroyalty of New Spain
New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( ; Nahuatl: ''Yankwik Kaxtillan Birreiyotl''), originally the Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain. It was one of several ...
. The literature of New Spain was highly influenced by the
Spanish Renaissance
The Spanish Renaissance was a movement in Spain, emerging from the Italian Renaissance in Italy during the 14th century, that spread to Spain during the 15th and 16th centuries.
This new focus in art, literature,
Quotation, quotes and scienc ...
, which was represented in all the Spanish literature of the time, and local productions also incorporated numerous terms commonly used in the vernacular of the viceroyalty and some of the topics discussed in the works of the period shaped a distinctive variant of the Spanish literature produced in Mexico.
During the colonial era, New Spain was home to
Baroque
The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...
writers such as
Bernardo de Balbuena,
Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora
Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora (August 14, 1645 – August 22, 1700) was one of the first great intellectuals born in the Americas - Spanish viceroyalty of New Spain (Mexico City). He was a Criollo people, criollo patriot, exalting New Spain ...
,
Juan Ruiz de Alarcón
Juan Ruiz de Alarcón (c. 1581 – 4 August 1639) was a New Spain, New Spanish writer of the Spanish Golden Age, Golden Age who cultivated different variants of dramaturgy. His works include the comedy ''La verdad sospechosa'' (:es:La verdad so ...
,
Francisco de Castro,
Luis Sandoval Zapata,
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz,
Diego de Ribera and
Rafael Landivar. Towards the independence a new wave of writers gave the initial struggle for the emancipation of national literature from the literature of the Spanish peninsula:
Diego José Abad,
Francisco Javier Alegre
Francisco Xavier Alegre (November 12, 1729 – August 16, 1788) was a Jesuit scholar, translator, and historian of New Spain.
Life
Alegre was born in Veracruz, New Spain. He studied philosophy in the Royal College of San Ignacio in Puebla, then ...
and Friar
Servando Teresa de Mier
Fray José Servando Teresa de Mier Noriega y Guerra (October 18, 1765 – December 3, 1827) was a Roman Catholic priest, preacher, and politician in New Spain. He was imprisoned several times for his controversial beliefs, and lived in exil ...
.

Towards the end of colonial rule in New Spain arose figures like
José Joaquín Fernández de Lizardi, ''
El Periquillo Sarniento'' is considered as an emblem of the Mexican literature and the first modern novel written in the Americas. By the second half of that century, works like
Los mexicanos pintados por sí mismos, a
manners
Etiquette ( /ˈɛtikɛt, -kɪt/) can be defined as a set of norms of personal behavior in polite society, usually occurring in the form of an ethical code of the expected and accepted social behaviors that accord with the conventions and n ...
book that gives a rough idea of how intellectuals of the time saw the rest of his countrymen. Towards the end of the century, during the
Porfirio Diaz Porfirio is a given name in Portuguese and Spanish, derived from the Greek Porphyry (''porphyrios'' "purple-clad").
It can refer to:
* Porfirio Salinas – Mexican-American artist
* Porfirio Armando Betancourt – Honduran football player
* ...
government, Mexican writers inclined towards the dominant European trends of the time.
To celebrate the centenary of the Independence of Mexico, there was a literary project surged ''Antología del Centenario'' which aimed to collect authors of the first hundred years of Mexico. This was truncated and only the first volume was published in two volumes primarily consisting of collected poetry. The poets of the time that were included were Friar
Manuel de Navarrete,
Fernando Calderón,
Ignacio Rodríguez Galván. Notable
modernist
Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...
s of the time included
Amado Nervo
Amado Nervo (August 27, 1870 – May 24, 1919) also known as Juan Crisóstomo Ruiz de Nervo, was a Mexican poet, journalist and educator. He also acted as Mexican Ambassador to Argentina and Uruguay. His poetry was known for its use of metaphor a ...
and
Manuel Gutiérrez Nájera. Other notable authors of that time were
Luis G. Urbina,
Efren Rebolledo,
José Juan Tablada
José Juan de Aguilar Acuña Tablada (April 3, 1871 – August 2, 1945) was a Mexican poet, art critic and, for a brief period, diplomat. A pioneer of oriental studies, and champion of Mexican art, he spent a good portion of his life living abroad ...
,
Enrique González Martínez
Enrique González Martínez (April 13, 1871 in Guadalajara, Jalisco – February 19, 1952 in Mexico City) was a Mexican poet, diplomat, surgeon and obstetrician. His poetry is considered to be primarily Modernist in nature, with elements of Fre ...
and
Ramón López Velarde
Ramón López Velarde (June 15, 1888 – June 19, 1921) was a
Mexican poet. His work was a reaction against French-influenced '' modernismo'' which, as an expression of a purely Mexican subject matter and emotional experience, is unique. He ach ...
.
The emergence of the
Mexican Revolution
The Mexican Revolution () was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from 20 November 1910 to 1 December 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It saw the destruction of the Federal Army, its ...
favored the development of journalistic genre. After the civil conflict finished, the Revolution theme appeared as a theme in many novels, short stories and plays like those of
Mariano Azuela
Mariano Azuela González (January 1, 1873 – March 1, 1952) was a Mexican writer and medical doctor, best known for his fictional stories of the Mexican Revolution of 1910. He wrote novels, works for theatre and literary criticism. He is t ...
or
Rodolfo Usigli. This trend would be an antecedent for the flowering of 'revolutionary literature', which was embodied in the work of writers like
Rosario Castellanos or
Juan Rulfo
Juan Nepomuceno Carlos Pérez Rulfo Vizcaíno, best known as Juan Rulfo (; 16 May 1917 – 7 January 1986), was a Mexican writer, screenwriter, and photographer. He is best known for two literary works, the 1955 novel ''Pedro Páramo'', and the ...
. A literature of indigenous themes, which aimed to portray the thoughts and life of the
indigenous peoples of Mexico
Indigenous peoples of Mexico (), Native Mexicans () or Mexican Native Americans (), are those who are part of communities that trace their roots back to populations and communities that existed in what is now Mexico before the arrival of Europe ...
surged along with this revolutionary literature, although ironically, none of the writers were indigenous. The most notable
indigenist authors of the time included
Miguel Angel Menendez Reyes,
Ricardo Pozas and
Francisco Rojas González.
In alternative to these mainstream literature, also other literary styles were developed in the country, less known movements being outside the main focus. Among them, the ''
estridentistas'' (1920s) that included authors such as
Arqueles Vela and
Manuel Maples Arce Manuel Maples Arce (May 1, 1900 - June 26, 1981) was a Mexican poet, writer, art critic, lawyer and diplomat, especially known as the founder of the Stridentism movement.
The leader of the first Mexican avant-garde movement
After the first Stri ...
. Another relevant movement to the literary history of the country was a group of intellectuals known as ''
Los Contemporáneos
''Los Contemporáneos'' (which means "The Contemporaries" in English) can refer to a Mexican modernist group, active in the late 1920s and early 1930s, as well as to the literary magazine which served as the group's mouthpiece and artistic vehi ...
'' (1930s), which unified figures such as journalist
Salvador Novo
Salvador Novo López (July 30, 1904 – January 13, 1974) was a Mexican writer, poet, playwright, translator, television presenter, entrepreneur, and the official chronicler of Mexico City. As a noted intellectual, he influenced popular percepti ...
and poets like
Xavier Villaurrutia
Xavier Villaurrutia y González (27 March 1903 – 25 December 1950) was a Mexican poet, playwright, translator, and literary critic whose most famous works are the short theatrical dramas called ''Autos profanos'', compiled in the work ''Poesía ...
and
José Gorostiza.
During the second half of 20th century, Mexican literature had diversified into themes, styles and genres. There were new groups such as ''
Literatura de la Onda'' (1960s), which sought for an urban, satirical and rebellious literature; among the featured authors were Parmenides García Saldaña and
José Agustín
José Agustín Ramírez Gómez (19 August 1944 – 16 January 2024) was a Mexican novelist, short story writer, essayist and screenwriter. Publishing under the pen name José Agustín, he was considered one of the most influential and prolific Me ...
; another literary style surged called ''
Infrarrealismo'' (1970s), which sought to "blow his brains out the official culture"; ''
La mafia cultural'' (1960s), was composed of Carlos Fuentes,
Salvador Elizondo
Salvador Elizondo Alcalde (December 19, 1932, in Mexico City – March 29, 2006) was a Mexican writer of the 60s Generation of Mexican literature.
Regarded as one of the creators of the most influential cult noirè, experimental, intelligent ...
, José Emilio Pacheco,
Carlos Monsivais,
Inés Arredondo,
Fernando Benítez among others. In 1990,
Octavio Paz
Octavio Paz Lozano (March 31, 1914 – April 19, 1998) was a Mexican poet and diplomat. For his body of work, he was awarded the 1977 Jerusalem Prize, the 1981 Miguel de Cervantes Prize, the 1982 Neustadt International Prize for Literature, a ...
became the only Mexican to date to have won the
Nobel Prize for Literature
The Nobel Prize in Literature, here meaning ''for'' Literature (), is a Swedish literature prize that is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words of the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, "in t ...
.
Pre-Columbian literature

While the peoples of
Mesoamerica
Mesoamerica is a historical region and cultural area that begins in the southern part of North America and extends to the Pacific coast of Central America, thus comprising the lands of central and southern Mexico, all of Belize, Guatemala, El S ...
developed systems of writing, these were not often used to preserve their literature. Most of the myths and literary works of the indigenous peoples of Mexico were transmitted by oral tradition. The peoples of Mesoamerica, despite having developed writing systems, primarily employed pictographic and logosyllabic forms rather than a phonetic writing system. Among these expressions, the Borgia Group codices are regarded by some scholars as exceptional artistic and literary works. While there is scholarly disagreement, it is commonly accepted that the central section of the Codex Borgia contains a narrative related to the creation of the universe, although an alternate hypothesis suggests that it may depict a series of rituals with an unclear purpose.

In addition to the Codex Borgia, the Mixtec codices Becker 1, Nutall, and Colombino depict the life of the hero-ruler 8-Venado and his efforts towards the unification of the Mixtec people. Another significant manuscript, the Boturini Codex or "Pilgrimage Strip," recounts chapters of the Mexicas' migration from northern Mexico to their eventual settlement in Texcoco Lake. However, it is worth noting that some scholars argue that the Boturini Codex is a copy of an older, unidentified document created during the early stages of the Conquest.
Within the rich cultural tapestry of ancient Mexico, a multitude of ceramic artifacts, stone carvings, stelae, and monoliths bear witness to historical, mythical-genealogical, cosmogonic, and legendary narratives. Notably, the Olmecs, Toltecs, Mayas, Nahua, and Mixtec peoples have produced remarkable pieces that capture the imagination.
The Olmecs, often credited as the originators of complex civilizations in Mesoamerica, are associated with the oldest known stone writing. Among their relics, a gravel block named 'Bloque de Cascajal' in Spanish is adorned with glyphs and has been carbon-dated to approximately 3,000 years ago, making it a significant archaeological find. This discovery sheds light on the early development of written communication in the region, highlighting the Olmecs' sophisticated cultural achievements.
We know that one of the activities that were to dominate the novices of priests among the
Mexica
The Mexica (Nahuatl: ; singular ) are a Nahuatl-speaking people of the Valley of Mexico who were the rulers of the Triple Alliance, more commonly referred to as the Aztec Empire. The Mexica established Tenochtitlan, a settlement on an island ...
was the memorization of lyrical works or mythology of their people.
Some of these productions were permanently fixed by writing them down using the Latin alphabet that the missionaries of the 16th century used to transcribe the information they received from the native inhabitants. Modern scholars such as
Angel Maria Garibay K. and
Miguel Leon-Portilla, have translated these works which were once dispersed in several texts and have reunited or reviewed these works in publications such as in "''Visión de los vencidos. Relaciones indígenas de la Conquista''" or "''Historia de la literatura Náhuatl.''"

The works of Spanish missionaries in central Mexico contributed to the preservation of the oral tradition of the Nahuatl speaking peoples by writing them down on paper using the Latin alphabet. In this regard the lyrical works of
Acolmiztli Nezahualcoyotl (1402–1472),
tlatoani
''Tlahtoāni'' ( , "ruler, sovereign"; plural ' ) is a historical title used by the dynastic rulers of (singular ''āltepētl'', often translated into English as "city-state"), autonomous political entities formed by many pre-Columbian Nahuatl- ...
of
Texcoco, were preserved and passed down to posterity giving the author the title of ''Poet King''. His works, along with other nobles of the
nahuatlaca peoples of the
Altiplano
The Altiplano (Spanish language, Spanish for "high plain"), Collao (Quechuan languages, Quechua and Aymara language, Aymara: Qullaw, meaning "place of the Qulla people, Qulla") or Andean Plateau, in west-central South America, is the most extens ...
such as Ayocuan of
Chalco-Atenco, and
Tecayehuatzin of Huexotzinco, constitute the largest sample of pre-Columbian works and philosophical lyrics preserved into the modern era.
There are also smaller stocks of
Postclassic Era literature recovered among other peoples such as the
Purépecha
The Purépecha ( ) are a group of Indigenous people centered in the northwestern region of Michoacán, Mexico, mainly in the area of the cities of Cherán and Pátzcuaro.
They are also known by the derogatory term " Tarascan", an exonym, app ...
, the
Zapotec and
Mixtec
The Mixtecs (), or Mixtecos, are Indigenous Mesoamerican peoples of Mexico inhabiting the region known as La Mixteca of Oaxaca and Puebla as well as La Montaña Region and Costa Chica of Guerrero, Costa Chica Regions of the state of Guerre ...
. The Case of the Mixtec is special as four
codices
The codex (: codices ) was the historical ancestor format of the modern book. Technically, the vast majority of modern books use the codex format of a stack of pages bound at one edge, along the side of the text. But the term ''codex'' is now r ...
have been preserved which have led to an approach to the study of the history of these people under the imprint of
Eight Deer, Lord of
Tututepec Tututepec (Mixtec languages, Mixtec: ''Yucu Dzaa'') is a Mesoamerica, Mesoamerican archaeological site. It is located in the lower Río Verde (Oaxaca), Río Verde valley on the coast of Mesoamerican geography#Oaxaca, Oaxaca. The city was the capita ...
and
Tilantongo
Tilantongo was a Mixtec citystate in the Mixteca Alta region of the modern-day state of Oaxaca which is now visible as an archeological site near the modern town of Santiago Tilantongo. It is located at 17°15' N. Lat. and 97°17' W. Long. Its ...
. In the
Mayan world there are preserved fragments called
Books of Chilam Balam.
Another well known pre-Columbian literature is that of the
Quiché people who did not inhabit the current Mexican territory, but rather, lived in what is now Guatemala. The
Popol Vuh
''Popol Vuh'' (also ''Popul Vuh'' or ''Pop Vuj'') is a text recounting the mythology and history of the Kʼicheʼ people of Guatemala, one of the Maya peoples who also inhabit the Mexican states of Chiapas, Campeche, Yucatan and Quintana Roo, ...
(Book of Counsel) was written in the Quiché language and incorporates two Mayan
cosmogonical myths: the creation of the world and falling of
Hunahpu and Xbalanque into
Xibalba
(), roughly translated as "place of fright", is the name of the underworld (in ) in Maya mythology, ruled by the Maya death gods and their helpers. In 16th-century Verapaz, the entrance to Xibalba was traditionally held to be a cave in the ...
which is the underworld of the Maya.
Outside of Mesoamerica,
Arturo Warman forwarded the hypothesis that the verses sung by the
Yaquis
The Yaqui, Hiaki, or Yoeme, are an Indigenous people of Mexico and Native American tribe, who speak the Yaqui language, a Uto-Aztecan language.
Their primary homelands are in Río Yaqui valley in the northwestern Mexican state of Sonora. Tod ...
and
Mayo musicians during the performance of the
Danza del Venado have their origin in pre-Columbian times and have survived to this day with very little change since then.
Among the prehispanic literature which flourished are:
* Epic Poetry which chronicles the life of famous people such as
Topiltzin Quetzalcoatl, the founding of cities and pilgrimages of tribes.
* Lyric poetry of religious, military or philosophical context.
* Dramatic poetry, which mixed elements of music and dance, as the feast of
Tezcatlipoca
Tezcatlipoca ( ) or Tezcatl Ipoca was a central deity in Aztec religion. He is associated with a variety of concepts, including the night sky, hurricanes, obsidian, and conflict. He was considered one of the four sons of Ometecuhtli and Omec ...
.
* Historical Prose and didactic genealogies, also proverbs called ''Huehuetlatolli'' ("The sayings of the old").
Spanish colonial period
In the colonial literature of Mexico we can distinguish several periods. The first period is linked with the historical moment of conquest, it chronicles and letters abound.
16th century
The influence of indigenous themes in the literature of New Spain is evident in the incorporation of many terms commonly used in the common local tongue of the people in colonial Mexico as well as some of the topics touched in the works of the period which reflected local views and cultures. During this period, New Spain housed writers such as
Bernardo de Balbuena.
In the colonial literature of Mexico we can distinguish several periods. The first examples of literature are linked with the historical moment of conquest, colonization chronicles and letters.
Works and writers:
* ''Itinerario de la armada del rey católico a la isla de Yucatán
..', probably by Juan Díaz (1480–1549)
* ''Relación de algunas cosas de las que acaescieron a Hernan Cortés
..'' by
Andrés de Tapia (1498? -1561)
* ''Cartas de relación de Hernán Cortés'' (1485–1547)
* ''
Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España
() is a first-person narrative written in 1568 by military adventurer, conquistador, and colonist settler Bernal Díaz del Castillo (1492–1584), who served in three Mexican expeditions: those of Francisco Hernández de Córdoba (1517) t ...
'' by
Bernal Diaz del Castillo (1492–1584)
* ''
Historia general de las cosas de Nueva España'' Friar
Bernardino de Sahagún
Bernardino de Sahagún ( – 5 February 1590) was a Franciscan friar, missionary priest and pioneering ethnographer who participated in the Catholic evangelization of colonial New Spain (now Mexico). Born in Sahagún, Spain, in 1499, he jour ...
(1499–1590)
* ''Historia de las Indias, Brevísima relación de la destrucción de las Indias, Apologética historia
..', etc. Friar
Bartolomé de las Casas
Bartolomé de las Casas, Dominican Order, OP ( ; ); 11 November 1484 – 18 July 1566) was a Spanish clergyman, writer, and activist best known for his work as an historian and social reformer. He arrived in Hispaniola as a layman, then became ...
(1484–1566)
* ''Historia general de las Indias, La Conquista de México'' by
Francisco Lopez de Gomara (1511–1566)
* ''Antigüedades de la Nueva España'' by
Francisco Hernández (1517–1578)
* ''Relación de las cosas de Yucatán'' Friar
Diego de Landa
Diego de Landa Calderón, O.F.M. (12 November 1524 – 29 April 1579) was a Spanish Franciscan bishop of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Yucatán. He led a campaign against idolatry and human sacrifice.Timmer, 480 In doing so, he burne ...
(1524–1579)
* ''Crónica mexicana y Crónica mexicáyotl'' by
Fernando Alvarado Tezozómoc (c. 1525 – c. 1610)
* ''Historia de Tlaxcala'' by
Diego Muñoz Camargo
Diego Muñoz Camargo ( – 1599) was the author of '' History of Tlaxcala'', an illustrated codex that highlights the religious, cultural, and military history of the Tlaxcalan people.
Life
Diego Muñoz Camargo was born in Spanish colonial Mex ...
(c. 1530 – c. 1600)
* ''Historia Chichimeca'' by
Fernando de Alva Cortés Ixtlilxóchitl
Fernando de Alva Cortés Ixtlilxóchitl, more generally known as Fernando de Alva Ixtlilxochitl, born between 1568 and 1580, died in 1648, was a nobleman of partial Aztec noble descent in the Spanish Viceroyalty of New Spain, modern Mexico; he is k ...
(1568? -1648)
* ''Historia general de las Indias occidentales y particular de la gobernación de Chiapa y Guatemala'' by Friar
Antonio de Remesal
*
Francisco Cervantes de Salazar (1514? -1575). Born in Spain, was professor of rhetoric and then rector at the University of Mexico, author of ''Crónica de la Nueva España'' and poems such as ''Túmulo Imperial" y Diálogos latinos'' (following the example of
Juan Luis Vives
Juan Luis Vives y March (; ; ; ; 6 March 6 May 1540) was a Spaniards, Spanish (Valencian people, Valencian) scholar and Renaissance humanist who spent most of his adult life in the southern Habsburg Netherlands. His beliefs on the soul, insigh ...
) of Mexican themes for the teaching of Latin.
*
Gutierre de Cetina (1520 – c. 1567). Born in Spain, lived and died in Mexico. His poetry predates his stay in Mexico, but is very likely the existence of many plays of his authorship.
*
Bernardo de Balbuena (1562–1627). Born in Spain, graduated from the
University of Mexico
The National Autonomous University of Mexico (, UNAM) is a public research university in Mexico. It has several campuses in Mexico City, and many others in various locations across Mexico, as well as a presence in nine countries. It also has 34 ...
, author of ''Grandeza mexicana'' (Mexican Greatness).
* Friar Luis de Fonsalida, author of "Diálogos o coloquios en lengua mexicana entre la Virgen María y el Arcángel San Gabriel".
* Friar Luis Cancer, author of "Varias canciones en verso zapoteco".
* Plácido Francisco, tepaneca prince, author of "Cánticos de las apariciones de la Virgen María".
* Andrés de Olmos, playwright author, "Representación de fin del mundo".
*
Gaspar Perez de Villagra (1555–1620). Born in Puebla, participated in the conquest of New Mexico. Author of the poem ''Historia de la nueva México'' (1610) and several printed memorials.
*
Francisco de Terrazas. First known poet born in
New Spain
New Spain, officially the Viceroyalty of New Spain ( ; Nahuatl: ''Yankwik Kaxtillan Birreiyotl''), originally the Kingdom of New Spain, was an integral territorial entity of the Spanish Empire, established by Habsburg Spain. It was one of several ...
.
17th century
In this period flourished particularly the Mexican variant of the
Baroque literature
The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from the early 17th century until the 1750s. It followed Renaissance art and Mannerism and preceded the Rococo ( ...
. Many of the most famous authors of the century reached varying success in the area of
literary games, with works like
anagram
An anagram is a word or phrase formed by rearranging the letters of a different word or phrase, typically using all the original letters exactly once. For example, the word ''anagram'' itself can be rearranged into the phrase "nag a ram"; which ...
s,
emblems
An emblem is an abstract art, abstract or representational pictorial image that represents a concept, like a moral truth, or an allegory, or a person, like a monarch or saint.
Emblems vs. symbols
Although the words ''emblem'' and ''symbol'' ...
and
mazes
A maze is a path or collection of paths, typically from an entrance to a goal. The word is used to refer both to branching tour puzzles through which the solver must find a route, and to simpler non-branching ("unicursal") patterns that lea ...
. There were notable authors in poetry, lyric, narrative and drama. The Baroque literature in New Spain followed the rivers of Spanish writers Góngora and Quevedo.
Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora
Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora (August 14, 1645 – August 22, 1700) was one of the first great intellectuals born in the Americas - Spanish viceroyalty of New Spain (Mexico City). He was a Criollo people, criollo patriot, exalting New Spain ...
,
Juan Ruiz de Alarcón
Juan Ruiz de Alarcón (c. 1581 – 4 August 1639) was a New Spain, New Spanish writer of the Spanish Golden Age, Golden Age who cultivated different variants of dramaturgy. His works include the comedy ''La verdad sospechosa'' (:es:La verdad so ...
,
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz and
Diego de Ribera were major exponents of the Mexican literature of this period.
The most notable authors:
*
Arias Villalobos. He wrote "Historia de México en verso castellano", a narrative poetry.
*
Bernardino de Llanos. Born in Spain, was known for his plays and literary whims.
*
Diego de Ribera. A
descriptive poetry
Descriptive poetry is the name given to a class of literature that belongs mainly to the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries in Europe. From the earliest times, all poetry not subjectively lyrical was apt to indulge in ornament which might be named desc ...
writer of nature and art.
*
Juan Ortiz de Torres and
Jerome Becerra. Playwrights.
*
José López Avilés. He wrote "Payo Enríquez", a biography in verse.
*
Matías Bocanegra, author of "Canción la vista de un desengaño".
*
María Estrada Medinilla and Sister
Teresa de Cristo, verse reciters in civil and religious ceremonies.
*
Fernando de Córdoba y Bocanegra (1565–1589). He was born in Mexico city and died in Puebla. He wrote ''Canción al amor divino'' and ''Canción al santísimo nombre de Jesús''.
*
Juan de Guevara, was born in Mexico, was an acclaimed lyric poet.
*
Juan Ruiz de Alarcón
Juan Ruiz de Alarcón (c. 1581 – 4 August 1639) was a New Spain, New Spanish writer of the Spanish Golden Age, Golden Age who cultivated different variants of dramaturgy. His works include the comedy ''La verdad sospechosa'' (:es:La verdad so ...
(1581–1639).
*
Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1651–1695).
*
Miguel de Guevara (c. 1586 – after 1646).
Augustinian friar from Michoacan, with knowledge of 'Indigenous language'. A manuscript of him dating back 1638 includes, among other poems,
sonnets
A sonnet is a fixed poetic form with a structure traditionally consisting of fourteen lines adhering to a set Rhyme scheme, rhyming scheme. The term derives from the Italian word ''sonetto'' (, from the Latin word ''sonus'', ). Originating in ...
such as ''No me mueve mi Dios para quererte...''.
*
Antonio de Saavedra Guzman (? -¿? Published in 1599). Author of the poem ''El peregrino indiano'', a praise of Hernán Cortés.
*
Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora
Carlos de Sigüenza y Góngora (August 14, 1645 – August 22, 1700) was one of the first great intellectuals born in the Americas - Spanish viceroyalty of New Spain (Mexico City). He was a Criollo people, criollo patriot, exalting New Spain ...
(1645–1700).
*
Francisco de Terrazas (? - ?, he was alive between 1525 and 1600). Born Mexico, close to Cortés, his works were praised by
Miguel de Cervantes
Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra ( ; ; 29 September 1547 (assumed) – 22 April 1616 Old Style and New Style dates, NS) was a Spanish writer widely regarded as the greatest writer in the Spanish language and one of the world's pre-eminent novelist ...
, as in ''
La Galatea''. Fragments of his poem ''Conquista y Mundo Nuevo'' are preserved.
18th century

Towards the end of the colonial period emerged important figures such as
José Joaquín Fernández de Lizardi, whose ''El Periquillo Sarniento'', is considered emblematic of Mexican
picaresque
The picaresque novel (Spanish: ''picaresca'', from ''pícaro'', for ' rogue' or 'rascal') is a genre of prose fiction. It depicts the adventures of a roguish but appealing hero, usually of low social class, who lives by his wits in a corrupt ...
alongside other of his novels such as ''La Quijotita y su Prima'' and ''Don Catrín dela Fachenda'' represented the first novels written in
the Americas
The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.'' Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sin ...
.
Illustrated writers and classicists included:
*
Diego José Abad (1727–1779)
*
Francisco Javier Alegre
Francisco Xavier Alegre (November 12, 1729 – August 16, 1788) was a Jesuit scholar, translator, and historian of New Spain.
Life
Alegre was born in Veracruz, New Spain. He studied philosophy in the Royal College of San Ignacio in Puebla, then ...
(1729–1788)
*
Francisco Javier Clavijero (1731–1787)
*
Rafael Landivar (1731–1793)
*
José Mariano Beristain
José Mariano Beristáin y Martín de Souza (22 May 1756 – 23 March 1817) was a Mexican bibliographer and author of one of the principal sources of knowledge of the bibliography of Mexico and Central America.
Biography
Beristain was born i ...
(1756–1817)
*
José Joaquín Fernández de Lizardi (1776–1827) also known as "The Mexican thinker"
* Friar
Servando Teresa de Mier
Fray José Servando Teresa de Mier Noriega y Guerra (October 18, 1765 – December 3, 1827) was a Roman Catholic priest, preacher, and politician in New Spain. He was imprisoned several times for his controversial beliefs, and lived in exil ...
(1765–1827)
Writers of independent Mexico (19th century)

Due to the political instability of the 19th century, Mexico—already an independent nation—saw a decline not only in its literature but in the other arts as well. During the second half of the 19th century, Mexican literature became revitalized with works such as ''Los Mexicanos Pintados Por Si Mismos'', a book that gives us an approximate idea of how intellectuals of the period saw their contemporaries. Towards the end of the century Mexican writers adopted the common tendencies of the period. Two modernist poets that stand out are
Amado Nervo
Amado Nervo (August 27, 1870 – May 24, 1919) also known as Juan Crisóstomo Ruiz de Nervo, was a Mexican poet, journalist and educator. He also acted as Mexican Ambassador to Argentina and Uruguay. His poetry was known for its use of metaphor a ...
and
Manuel Gutiérrez Nájera.
During the 19th century there were three major literary trends:
romanticism
Romanticism (also known as the Romantic movement or Romantic era) was an artistic and intellectual movement that originated in Europe towards the end of the 18th century. The purpose of the movement was to advocate for the importance of subjec ...
,
realism-naturalism and
modernism
Modernism was an early 20th-century movement in literature, visual arts, and music that emphasized experimentation, abstraction, and Subjectivity and objectivity (philosophy), subjective experience. Philosophy, politics, architecture, and soc ...
.
Romantic writers gathered around hundreds of associations; among the most important the
Academy Lateran, founded in 1836 (
José María Lacunza
José María Lacunza Blengio (18 August 1809 – 2 January 1869) was a Mexican politician and diplomat. In 1836, with his brother Juan Nepomuceno Lacunza, he founded the , where he published his ''Historical Discourses''. As a columnist he wrote ...
,
Guillermo Prieto,
Manuel Carpio,
Andrés Quintana Roo,
José Joaquín Pesado,
Ignacio Rodríguez Galván (Ignacio Ramirez).
Liceo Hidalgo, was another prominent literary association founded in 1850, (
Ignacio Manuel Altamirano,
Manuel Acuña,
Manuel M. Flores). Unto whom it was labeled as neo-classical or academic, as opposed to the category of "romantic" that was given to the former authors. Other authors belong to this group such as
José Manuel Martínez de Navarrete,
Vicente Riva Palacio
Vicente Florencio Carlos Riva Palacio Guerrero better known as Vicente Riva Palacio (16 October 1832 in Mexico City – 22 November 1896 in Madrid) was a Mexican liberal politician, novelist, journalist, intellectual, historian, and militar ...
,
Joaquin Arcadio Caspian,
Justo Sierra
Justo Sierra Méndez (January 26, 1848 – September 13, 1912), was a Mexican prominent liberal writer, historian, journalist, poet and political figure during the Porfiriato, in the second half of the nineteenth century and early twentieth ...
and
Manuel Jose Othon.
Later, during the rise of
positivism
Positivism is a philosophical school that holds that all genuine knowledge is either true by definition or positivemeaning '' a posteriori'' facts derived by reason and logic from sensory experience.John J. Macionis, Linda M. Gerber, ''Soci ...
aesthetic taste changed. Between realists and naturalists Mexican writers were
Luis G. Inclán,
Rafael Delgado,
Emilio Rabasa,
José Tomás de Cuéllar,
Federico Gamboa and
Ángel de Campo.
Within the modernist superman, original literary revolution in Latin America, there were numerous metrics and rhyming innovations, revival of obsolete forms and mainly symbolic findings. Between 1895 and 1910 Mexico became a core of modernist activity; among famous writers there were
Manuel Gutiérrez Nájera,
Enrique González Martínez
Enrique González Martínez (April 13, 1871 in Guadalajara, Jalisco – February 19, 1952 in Mexico City) was a Mexican poet, diplomat, surgeon and obstetrician. His poetry is considered to be primarily Modernist in nature, with elements of Fre ...
,
Salvador Díaz Mirón and
Amado Nervo
Amado Nervo (August 27, 1870 – May 24, 1919) also known as Juan Crisóstomo Ruiz de Nervo, was a Mexican poet, journalist and educator. He also acted as Mexican Ambassador to Argentina and Uruguay. His poetry was known for its use of metaphor a ...
.
Essayists
*
Lucas Alamán
Lucas Ygnacio José Joaquín Pedro de Alcántar Juan Bautista Francisco de Paula de Alamán y Escalada (Guanajuato, New Spain, 18 October 1792 – Mexico City, Mexico, 2 June 1853) was a Mexican scientist, conservative statesman, historian, and ...
(1792–1853)
*
Serapio Baqueiro Barrera (1865–1940)
*
Manuel Gutiérrez Nájera (1859–1895).
*
Antonio Menendez de la Peña (1844–1912).
*
Rodolfo Menéndez de la Peña (1850–1928).
*
Justo Sierra Méndez (1848–1912).
*
José Vasconcelos
José Vasconcelos Calderón (28 February 1882 – 30 June 1959), called the "cultural " of the Mexican Revolution, was an important Mexicans, Mexican writer, philosopher, and politician. He is one of the most influential and controversial pers ...
(1882–1959).
Novelists and short story writers

*
Ignacio Manuel Altamirano (1834–1893).
*
Angel del Campo (1868–1908).
*
Florencio María del Castillo (1828–1863).
*
José Tomás de Cuellar (1830–1894).
*
Rafael Delgado (1853–1914).
*
Federico Gamboa (1864–1939).
*
Gregorio López (1897–1966).
*
Manuel Payno (1810–1894).
*
Guillermo Prieto (1818–1897).
*
Vicente Riva Palacio
Vicente Florencio Carlos Riva Palacio Guerrero better known as Vicente Riva Palacio (16 October 1832 in Mexico City – 22 November 1896 in Madrid) was a Mexican liberal politician, novelist, journalist, intellectual, historian, and militar ...
(1832–1896)
*
José Rubén Romero (1890–1952).
*
Victoriano Salado Alvarez (1867–1931).
*
Justo Sierra O'Reilly (1814–1861).
*
Francisco Javier Moreno (1895–1961).
Poets
*
Manuel Acuña (1849–1873).
*
Manuel Carpio (1791–1860).
*
Salvador Díaz Mirón (1853–1928).
*
Enrique González Martínez
Enrique González Martínez (April 13, 1871 in Guadalajara, Jalisco – February 19, 1952 in Mexico City) was a Mexican poet, diplomat, surgeon and obstetrician. His poetry is considered to be primarily Modernist in nature, with elements of Fre ...
(1871–1952).
*
Enrique González Red (1899–1939).
*
Manuel Gutiérrez Nájera (1858–1895).
*
Renato Leduc (1898–1986).
*
Rafael Lopez (1873–1943).
*
Ramón López Velarde
Ramón López Velarde (June 15, 1888 – June 19, 1921) was a
Mexican poet. His work was a reaction against French-influenced '' modernismo'' which, as an expression of a purely Mexican subject matter and emotional experience, is unique. He ach ...
(1888–1921).
*
Amado Nervo
Amado Nervo (August 27, 1870 – May 24, 1919) also known as Juan Crisóstomo Ruiz de Nervo, was a Mexican poet, journalist and educator. He also acted as Mexican Ambassador to Argentina and Uruguay. His poetry was known for its use of metaphor a ...
(1870–1919).
*
Manuel Jose Othon (1858–1906).
*
Juan de Dios Peza (1852–1910).
*
Efren Rebolledo (1877–1929).
*
Alfonso Reyes (1889–1959).
*
José Juan Tablada
José Juan de Aguilar Acuña Tablada (April 3, 1871 – August 2, 1945) was a Mexican poet, art critic and, for a brief period, diplomat. A pioneer of oriental studies, and champion of Mexican art, he spent a good portion of his life living abroad ...
(1871–1945).
*
Luis G. Urbina (1864–1934).
*
Granade Miriam (1995)
Contemporary Writers (20th and 21st centuries)
The inception of the
Mexican Revolution
The Mexican Revolution () was an extended sequence of armed regional conflicts in Mexico from 20 November 1910 to 1 December 1920. It has been called "the defining event of modern Mexican history". It saw the destruction of the Federal Army, its ...
favored the growth of the journalistic genre. Once the civil conflict ended, the theme of the Revolution appeared as a theme in novels, stories and plays by
Mariano Azuela
Mariano Azuela González (January 1, 1873 – March 1, 1952) was a Mexican writer and medical doctor, best known for his fictional stories of the Mexican Revolution of 1910. He wrote novels, works for theatre and literary criticism. He is t ...
and
Rodolfo Usigli. This tendency would anticipate the flowering of a nationalist literature, which took shape in the works of writers such as
Rosario Castellanos and
Juan Rulfo
Juan Nepomuceno Carlos Pérez Rulfo Vizcaíno, best known as Juan Rulfo (; 16 May 1917 – 7 January 1986), was a Mexican writer, screenwriter, and photographer. He is best known for two literary works, the 1955 novel ''Pedro Páramo'', and the ...
. There also appeared on the scene an "indigenous literature," which purported to depict the life and thought of the indigenous peoples of Mexico, although, ironically, none of the authors of this movement were indigenous. Among them
Ricardo Pozas and
Francisco Rojas Gonzalez stand out.
There also developed less mainstream movements such as that of the "
Estridentistas", with figures that include
Arqueles Vela and
Manuel Maples Arce Manuel Maples Arce (May 1, 1900 - June 26, 1981) was a Mexican poet, writer, art critic, lawyer and diplomat, especially known as the founder of the Stridentism movement.
The leader of the first Mexican avant-garde movement
After the first Stri ...
(1920s). Other literary movements include that of
Los Contemporáneos
''Los Contemporáneos'' (which means "The Contemporaries" in English) can refer to a Mexican modernist group, active in the late 1920s and early 1930s, as well as to the literary magazine which served as the group's mouthpiece and artistic vehi ...
, which was represented by writers like
Salvador Novo
Salvador Novo López (July 30, 1904 – January 13, 1974) was a Mexican writer, poet, playwright, translator, television presenter, entrepreneur, and the official chronicler of Mexico City. As a noted intellectual, he influenced popular percepti ...
,
Xavier Villaurrutia
Xavier Villaurrutia y González (27 March 1903 – 25 December 1950) was a Mexican poet, playwright, translator, and literary critic whose most famous works are the short theatrical dramas called ''Autos profanos'', compiled in the work ''Poesía ...
and
José Gorostiza. Towards the end of the 20th century Mexican literature had become diversified in themes, styles and genres. In 1990
Octavio Paz
Octavio Paz Lozano (March 31, 1914 – April 19, 1998) was a Mexican poet and diplomat. For his body of work, he was awarded the 1977 Jerusalem Prize, the 1981 Miguel de Cervantes Prize, the 1982 Neustadt International Prize for Literature, a ...
became the first Mexican—and up until this point the only one—to win the
Nobel Prize for Literature
The Nobel Prize in Literature, here meaning ''for'' Literature (), is a Swedish literature prize that is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words of the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, "in t ...
.
In the years between 1900 and 1914 it continued to dominate modernism in poetry and prose realism and naturalism. During this period lived representatives 19th-century literature with members of the
Ateneo´s youth.
From 1915 to 1930 there were three streams: a stylistic renewal incorporating influences from the European vanguard (the
estridentismo (Manuel Maples Arce, German List Arzubide, Arqueles Vela) and
Contemporaries), a group of writers resumed colonial subjects (
Xavier Villaurrutia
Xavier Villaurrutia y González (27 March 1903 – 25 December 1950) was a Mexican poet, playwright, translator, and literary critic whose most famous works are the short theatrical dramas called ''Autos profanos'', compiled in the work ''Poesía ...
,
Jaime Torres Bodet
Jaime Mario Torres Bodet (17 April 1902 – 13 May 1974) was a prominent Mexican politician and writer who served in the executive cabinet of three Presidents of Mexico. He was the second Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Sci ...
,
Jorge Cuesta
Jorge Mateo Cuesta Porte-Petit (b. Córdoba, Veracruz, September 23, 1903 – d. Tlalpan, August 13, 1942) was a Mexican chemist, writer and editor.
Biography
Cuesta attended school in his hometown, before he did his studies at the Faculty of ...
,
José Gorostiza,
Salvador Novo
Salvador Novo López (July 30, 1904 – January 13, 1974) was a Mexican writer, poet, playwright, translator, television presenter, entrepreneur, and the official chronicler of Mexico City. As a noted intellectual, he influenced popular percepti ...
), and others who began publishing calls "novels of the Revolution "(the best known is '' the Underdogs '' of
Mariano Azuela
Mariano Azuela González (January 1, 1873 – March 1, 1952) was a Mexican writer and medical doctor, best known for his fictional stories of the Mexican Revolution of 1910. He wrote novels, works for theatre and literary criticism. He is t ...
):
Martin Luis Guzman,
Rafael Muñoz,
Heriberto Frías,
Jorge Ferretis,
Nellie Campobello.
Until the mid-1940s there were authors who continued realistic narrative, but also reached their peak the indigenista novel and reflections involved around on self and national culture. Emerged two new poetic generations, grouped around the magazines ''Taller y Tierra Nueva''.
With the publication of
Agustín Yáñez's ''
Al filo del agua'' in 1947 began what we call "contemporary Mexican novel" incorporating innovative techniques, influences of American writers such as (
William Faulkner
William Cuthbert Faulkner (; September 25, 1897 – July 6, 1962) was an American writer. He is best known for William Faulkner bibliography, his novels and short stories set in the fictional Yoknapatawpha County, Mississippi, a stand-in fo ...
and
John Dos Passos
John Roderigo Dos Passos (; January 14, 1896 – September 28, 1970) was an American novelist, most notable for his U.S.A. (trilogy), ''U.S.A.'' trilogy.
Born in Chicago, Dos Passos graduated from Harvard College in 1916. He traveled widely as a ...
), and European influences from (
James Joyce
James Augustine Aloysius Joyce (born James Augusta Joyce; 2 February 1882 – 13 January 1941) was an Irish novelist, poet, and literary critic. He contributed to the modernist avant-garde movement and is regarded as one of the most influentia ...
and
Franz Kafka
Franz Kafka (3 July 1883 – 3 June 1924) was a novelist and writer from Prague who was Jewish, Austrian, and Czech and wrote in German. He is widely regarded as a major figure of 20th-century literature. His work fuses elements of Litera ...
), and in 1963, the hitherto known for his articles in newspapers and magazines and its beautiful theater
Elena Garro
Elena Garro (December 11, 1916 – August 22, 1998) was a Mexican author, playwright, screenwriter, journalist, short story writer, and novelist. She has been described as one of the pioneers and an early leading figure of the Magical Realism move ...
, published which became the initiator of the '' boom '' Latin American and founder of the genre known as "magical realism": the novel ''
Recollections of Things to Come '', which inspired the Colombian
Gabriel García Márquez
Gabriel José García Márquez (; 6 March 1927 – 17 April 2014) was a Colombian writer and journalist, known affectionately as Gabo () or Gabito () throughout Latin America. Considered one of the most significant authors of the 20th centur ...
to write his most celebrated ''
One Hundred Years of Solitude
''One Hundred Years of Solitude'' (, ) is a 1967 in literature, 1967 novel by Colombian people, Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez that tells the Family saga, multi-generational story of the Buendía family, whose patriarch, José Arcadio ...
''. While during the period from 1947 to 1961 predominated the narrators (Arreola, Rulfo, Fuentes), then emerged poets worth as
Rubén Bonifaz Nuño
Rubén Bonifaz Nuño (12 November 1923 – 31 January 2013) was a Mexican poet and classics, classical scholar.
Born in Córdoba, Veracruz, he studied law at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) from 1934 to 1947. In 1960, he b ...
and
Rosario Castellanos (also narrator).
In 1960 an anthology was edited ''
La espiga amotinada'', which brought together the major group of poets: Juan Banuelos, Oscar Oliva, Jaime Augusto Shelley, Eraclius Zepeda and Jaime Labastida. Literary magazines were one of the main vehicles for disseminating the writers, so they tend to group many of them under the name of the journals in which they were active. ''The Prodigal Son'' was directed by Xavier Villaurrutia, the group ''Los Contemporaneos'' who had Octavio Paz as a coolaborador. Octavio Paz, after leaving founded the newspaper ''Excelsior'', a magazine called ''Vuelta'', which led for many years the national culture, mainly after the death of Martin Luis Guzman in 1976.

After the death of Octavio Paz, a group of his contributors tried to start a magazine, but the fledgling magazine, ''Letras libres'', failed to have the acceptance of ''Vuelta''.
In 1979,
Gabriel Zaid made a census of poets published in his anthology ''Assembly of young poets of Mexico''; among those who were included, there were poets as
Eduardo Hurtado,
Alberto Blanco,
Coral Bracho,
Eduardo Casar,
Eduardo Langagne,
Manuel Ulacia,
Vicente Quirarte
Vicente is a Spanish and Portuguese name. Like its French variant, Vincent, it is derived from the Latin name ''Vincentius'' meaning "conquering" (from Latin ''vincere'', "to conquer").
Vicente may refer to:
Places
*São Vicente, Cape Verde, an i ...
,
Victor Manuel Mendiola,
Dante Medina,
Veronica Volkow,
Pearl Schwartz,
Jaime Moreno Villarreal and
Francisco Segovia. These and the other authors included are those who currently make up the group of authors at the peak of his literary career. Most worked in ''Vuelta''.
Present-day notable Mexican poets include
Elsa Cross and
Efraín Bartolomé.
Influenced by the mass media, social networks, and the Internet, the generation born in the 80s and 90s exhibits a strong inclination towards literature, which finds expression in various digital and print media platforms, such as blogs, internet pages, digital and printed magazines, and electronic books. The impact of this generation on the literary landscape is still challenging to trace. Nonetheless, their presence is evident through the emergence of literary creation schools established in recent decades, including Universidad del Claustro de Sor Juana (UCSJ), Casa Lamm, Centro Morelense de las Artes (CMA), Sociedad General de Escritores de México (Sogem), and Escuela Mexicana de Escritores (EME).
Within this vast and dynamic generation of young and prolific writers, certain individuals have garnered attention for their literary contributions. Among them are Fernanda Melchor, Mercedes Alvarado, Martín Rangel, Aldo Vicencio, Davo Valdez, Iván Cruz, Juan Andrés Herrera, Víctor Ibarra (known by their pseudonyms Genkidama Ñu and Vraiux Dorós), Tania Carrera, Joana Medellín Herrero, Tania Langarica, Itzel Nayelli Palacios, Andrea Chaves, Rojo Córdova, Yaxkin Melchy, Karlos Atl, and many others. While the full extent of their impact is yet to be determined, these individuals represent the active and visible facet of this vast generation of aspiring writers
Essayists
*
Jorge Cuesta
Jorge Mateo Cuesta Porte-Petit (b. Córdoba, Veracruz, September 23, 1903 – d. Tlalpan, August 13, 1942) was a Mexican chemist, writer and editor.
Biography
Cuesta attended school in his hometown, before he did his studies at the Faculty of ...
(1903–1942)
*
Germán Dehesa (1944–2010)
*
Ricardo Garibay (1923–1999)
*
Margo Glantz (1930–)
*
Manuel Hernández Gómez (1950–)
*
Hugo Hiriart (1942–)
*
Carlos Monsivais (1938–2010)
*
Octavio Paz
Octavio Paz Lozano (March 31, 1914 – April 19, 1998) was a Mexican poet and diplomat. For his body of work, he was awarded the 1977 Jerusalem Prize, the 1981 Miguel de Cervantes Prize, the 1982 Neustadt International Prize for Literature, a ...
(1914–1998)
*
Óscar René Cruz Oliva (1933–)
*
Sergio Pitol (1933–2018)
*
Elena Poniatowska
Hélène Elizabeth Louise Amélie Paula Dolores Poniatowska Amor (born May 19, 1932), known professionally as Elena Poniatowska (), is a French-born Mexican journalist and author, specializing in works on social and political issues focused on ...
(1932–)
*
Vicente Quirarte
Vicente is a Spanish and Portuguese name. Like its French variant, Vincent, it is derived from the Latin name ''Vincentius'' meaning "conquering" (from Latin ''vincere'', "to conquer").
Vicente may refer to:
Places
*São Vicente, Cape Verde, an i ...
(1954–)
*
Alfonso Reyes (1889–1959)
*
Guillermo Samperio (1948–)
*
Sara Sefchovich (1949–)
*
Carlos J. Sierra (1933–)
*
Gabriel Zaid (1934–)
Novelists and short story writers
*
Abraham Nissan (1969–)
*
Andres Acosta (1964–)
*
José Agustín
José Agustín Ramírez Gómez (19 August 1944 – 16 January 2024) was a Mexican novelist, short story writer, essayist and screenwriter. Publishing under the pen name José Agustín, he was considered one of the most influential and prolific Me ...
(1944–)
*
Homer Aridjis (1940–)
*
Inés Arredondo (1928–1989)
*
Juan José Arreola
Juan José Arreola Zúñiga (September 21, 1918 – December 3, 2001) was a Mexican writer, academic, and actor. He is considered Mexico's premier experimental short story writer of the 20th century. Arreola is recognized as one of the first Lat ...
(1918–2001)
*
René Avilés Fabila (1940–)
*
René Avilés Rojas (1911–1979)
*
Mariano Azuela
Mariano Azuela González (January 1, 1873 – March 1, 1952) was a Mexican writer and medical doctor, best known for his fictional stories of the Mexican Revolution of 1910. He wrote novels, works for theatre and literary criticism. He is t ...
(1873–1952)
*
Mario Bellatín (1960–)
*
Carmen Boulton (1954–)
*
Juan de la Cabada Vera (1901–1986)
*
Nellie Campobello (1900–1986)
*
Rosario Castellanos (1925–1974)
*
José de la Colina (1934)
*
Alberto Chimal (1970)
*
Leonardo Da Jandra (1951–)
*
Amparo Dávila (1928)
*
Guadalupe Dueñas (1920–2002)
*
Salvador Elizondo
Salvador Elizondo Alcalde (December 19, 1932, in Mexico City – March 29, 2006) was a Mexican writer of the 60s Generation of Mexican literature.
Regarded as one of the creators of the most influential cult noirè, experimental, intelligent ...
(1932–2006)
*
Beatriz Mirror
*
Laura Esquivel
Laura Beatriz Esquivel Valdés (born 30 September 1950) is a Mexican novelist, screenwriter and politician, who served in the Chamber of Deputies for the Morena Party from 2015 to 2018. Her first novel ''Como agua para chocolate'' ('' Like Wat ...
(1950–)
*
William Fadanelli (1963–)
*
J. M. Servin (1962)
*
Bernardo Fernández
*
Jorge Ferretis (1902–1962)
*
Heriberto Frías (1870–1925)
*
Carlos Fuentes
Carlos Fuentes Macías (; ; November 11, 1928 – May 15, 2012) was a Mexican novelist and essayist. Among his works are ''The Death of Artemio Cruz'' (1962), '' Aura'' (1962), '' Terra Nostra'' (1975), '' The Old Gringo'' (1985) and '' Christop ...
(1928–2012)
*
Sergio Galindo Sergio Galindo (September 2, 1926 – January 3, 1993) was a Mexican novelist and short story writer. He was born in Xalapa in the state of Veracruz, a region of Mexico that figures prominently in much of his writing. His most popular and widely a ...
(1926-1993)
*
Juan García Ponce (1932–2003)
*
Parmenides García Saldaña (1944–1982)
*
Jesus Gardea (1939–2000)
*
Ricardo Garibay (1923–1999)
*
Elena Garro
Elena Garro (December 11, 1916 – August 22, 1998) was a Mexican author, playwright, screenwriter, journalist, short story writer, and novelist. She has been described as one of the pioneers and an early leading figure of the Magical Realism move ...
(1916–1998)
*
José Luis González (1926)
*
Martin Luis Guzman (1887–1977)
*
Andrés Henestrosa (1906–2008)
*
Yuri Herrera (1970–)
*
Jorge Ibargüengoitia (1928–1983)
*
Xavier Icaza (1892–1969)
*
Patricia Laurent Kullick (1962–)
*
Monica Lavin (1955–)
*
Alfredo Lèal (1985)
*
Vicente Leñero (1933–2014)
*
Valeria Luiselli (1983–)
*
Mauricio Magdaleno
Mauricio Magdaleno Cardona (13 May 1906 – 30 June 1986), better known as Mauricio Magdaleno, was a Mexican screenwriter and occasional director of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema. He was nominated for six Ariel Awards and won for his sec ...
(1906–1986)
*
Ángeles Mastretta (1949–)
*
Elmer Mendoza (1949–)
*
Miguel Angel Menendez Reyes (1904–1982)
*
Thomas Mojarro (1932)
*
Rafael Muñoz (1899–1972)
*
Gilberto Owen
Gilberto Owen Estrada (May 13, 1904 – March 9, 1952) was a Mexican poet and diplomat.
Biography
Officially registered as Gilberto Estrada, son of Margarita Estrada from Michoacán, Gilberto Owen was born in Rosario, Sinaloa (May 13, 190 ...
(1904–1952)
*
José Emilio Pacheco
José Emilio Pacheco Berny (30 June 1939 – 26 January 2014) was a Mexican poet, essayist, novelist and short story writer. He is regarded as one of the major Mexican poets of the second half of the 20th century. The Berlin International Lit ...
(1939–2014)
*
Fernando del Paso
Fernando del Paso Morante (April 1, 1935 – November 14, 2018) was a Mexican novelist, essayist and poet.
Biography
Del Paso was born in Mexico City and took two years in economics at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). He ...
(1935–2018)
*
Sergio Pitol (1933–2018)
*
Gerardo Horacio Porcayo (1966–)
*
Maria Luisa Puga (1944–2004)
*
Rafael Ramírez Heredia (1942–2006)
*
Cristina Rivera Garza (1964–)
*
Sergio-Jesús Rodríguez (1967)
*
Octavio Rodriguez Araujo (1941)
*
José Revueltas (1914–1976)
*
Martha Robles (1949–)
*
Bernardo Ruiz
Bernardo Ruiz Navarrete (born 8 January 1925) is a Spanish former professional road bicycle racer who won the General classification, overall and King of the Mountains, climbers competition at the 1948 Vuelta a España. He went on to become the ...
(1953–)
*
Juan Rulfo
Juan Nepomuceno Carlos Pérez Rulfo Vizcaíno, best known as Juan Rulfo (; 16 May 1917 – 7 January 1986), was a Mexican writer, screenwriter, and photographer. He is best known for two literary works, the 1955 novel ''Pedro Páramo'', and the ...
(1918–1986)
*
Rafael Saavedra (1967–2013)
*
Daniel Sada (1953–2011)
*
Alberto Ruy Sanchez (1951)
*
Gustavo Sainz Gustavo Sainz (13 July 1940 – 26 June 2015) was a Spanish language author from Mexico.
Biography
Sainz was born in Mexico City. As the son of journalist José Luis Sainz, Gustavo Sainz learned how to read at the age of three from his paternal gra ...
(1940)
*
Guillermo Samperio (1948–)
*
Federico Schaffler
*
Mauricio-José Schwarz (1955–)
*
Enrique Serna (1959–)
*
Jordi Soler (1963–)
*
Gerardo de la Torre (1938)
*
David Toscana (1961–)
*
Juan Tovar (1941)
*
Elman Trevizo (1981)
*
Gabriel Trujillo
*
Edmundo Valadés (1915–1994)
*
Arqueles Vela (1899–1977)
*
Xavier Velasco (1964–)
*
Juan Pablo Villalobos (1973–)
*
Juan Villoro (1956–)
*
Josefina Vicens (1911–1988)
*
Janitzio Villamar (1969–)
*
Jorge Volpi (1968)
*
Agustín Yáñez (1904–1980)
*
José Luis Zárate (1966–)
*
Eraclius Zepeda (1937)
*
Gerardo Arana (1987–2012)
Poets

*
Griselda Álvarez (1913–2009)
*
Guadalupe Amor (1918–2000)
*
Homero Aridjis
Homero Aridjis (born April 6, 1940) is a Mexican poetry, poet, novelist, environmental activist, journalism, journalist, and former ambassador and ex-president of PEN International.
Family and early life
Aridjis was born in Contepec, Michoacán, ...
(1940–)
*
List Germán Arzubide (1898–1998)
*
Juan Banuelos (1932–)
*
Efraín Bartolomé (1950–)
*
José Carlos Becerra (1936–1970)
*
Abigael Bohórquez (1936–1995)
*
Rubén Bonifaz Nuño
Rubén Bonifaz Nuño (12 November 1923 – 31 January 2013) was a Mexican poet and classics, classical scholar.
Born in Córdoba, Veracruz, he studied law at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) from 1934 to 1947. In 1960, he b ...
(1923–2013)
*
Andrés Castuera-Micher (1976)
*
Alí Chumacero (1918– 2010)
*
Óscar Cortés Tapia (1960–)
*
Jorge Cuesta
Jorge Mateo Cuesta Porte-Petit (b. Córdoba, Veracruz, September 23, 1903 – d. Tlalpan, August 13, 1942) was a Mexican chemist, writer and editor.
Biography
Cuesta attended school in his hometown, before he did his studies at the Faculty of ...
(1903–1942)
*
Gerardo Deniz (1934–2014)
*
José Gorostiza (1901–1973)
*
Daniel Gutiérrez Pedreiro (1964–)
*
Francisco Hernández (1946–)
*
Efraín Huerta
Efraín Huerta Roma (June 18, 1914 – February 3, 1982) was a Mexican poet and journalist. Born and raised in the state of Guanajuato, he moved to Mexico City initially to start a career in art. Unable to enter the Academy of San Carlos, he ...
(1914–1982)
*
David Huerta (1949–)
*
Martín Jiménez Serrano (1967)
*
Jaime Labastida (1939–)
*
Ricardo López Méndez (1903–1989)
*
Tedi López Mills (1959–)
*
Manuel Maples Arce Manuel Maples Arce (May 1, 1900 - June 26, 1981) was a Mexican poet, writer, art critic, lawyer and diplomat, especially known as the founder of the Stridentism movement.
The leader of the first Mexican avant-garde movement
After the first Stri ...
(1898–1981)
*
Yaxkin Melchy Ramos (1985–)
*
Carmen Mondragón "Nahui Olin" (1893–1978)
*
Marco Antonio Montes de Oca (1932–2008)
*
Oscar Oliva (1938–)
*
José Emilio Pacheco
José Emilio Pacheco Berny (30 June 1939 – 26 January 2014) was a Mexican poet, essayist, novelist and short story writer. He is regarded as one of the major Mexican poets of the second half of the 20th century. The Berlin International Lit ...
(1939–2014)
* , (1939–2014)
*
Octavio Paz
Octavio Paz Lozano (March 31, 1914 – April 19, 1998) was a Mexican poet and diplomat. For his body of work, he was awarded the 1977 Jerusalem Prize, the 1981 Miguel de Cervantes Prize, the 1982 Neustadt International Prize for Literature, a ...
(1914–1998)
*
Carlos Pellicer (1899–1977)
*
Jaime Sabines
Jaime Sabines Gutiérrez (March 25, 1926 – March 19, 1999) was a Mexican contemporary poet. Known as “the sniper of Literature” as he formed part of a group that transformed literature into reality, he wrote ten volumes of poetry, and his w ...
(1926–1999)
*
Jaime Augusto Shelley (1937)
*
Javier Sicilia (1956–)
*
Concha Urquiza (1910–1945)
*
Xavier Villaurrutia
Xavier Villaurrutia y González (27 March 1903 – 25 December 1950) was a Mexican poet, playwright, translator, and literary critic whose most famous works are the short theatrical dramas called ''Autos profanos'', compiled in the work ''Poesía ...
(1903–1950)
*
Eraclio Zepeda (1937–2015)
*
Arianna Alvarez (2001)
Playwrights
* (1932–2003)
*
Homer Aridjis (1940–)
*
Luis G. Basurto (1920–1990)
*
Sabina Berman (1955–)
*
Emilio Carballido (1925–2008)
*
Andrés Castuera-Micher (1976)
*
Elena Garro
Elena Garro (December 11, 1916 – August 22, 1998) was a Mexican author, playwright, screenwriter, journalist, short story writer, and novelist. She has been described as one of the pioneers and an early leading figure of the Magical Realism move ...
(1916–1998)
*
Ricardo Garibay (1923–1999)
*
Miguel Ángel Tenorio (1954–1)
*
Luisa Josefina Hernandez (1928–)
*
Vicente Leñero (1933–)
*
Oscar Liera (1946–1990)
*
Carlos Olmos (1947–2003)
*
José Lorenzo Canchola (1962–)
*
Victor Hugo Rascon Banda (1948–2008)
*
Guillermo Schmidhuber (1943–)
*
Juan Tovar (1941–)
*
Luis Mario Moncada (1963–)
*
Rodolfo Usigli (1905–1980)
*
Xavier Villaurrutia
Xavier Villaurrutia y González (27 March 1903 – 25 December 1950) was a Mexican poet, playwright, translator, and literary critic whose most famous works are the short theatrical dramas called ''Autos profanos'', compiled in the work ''Poesía ...
(1903–1951)
Historians

*
Alfonso Junco
*
Carlos Antonio Aguirre Rojas (1954–)
*
Carlos Pereyra
*
Carlos Alvear Acevedo
*
Eduardo Blanquel
*
Guillermo Bonfil Batalla (1935–1991)
*
Victor Manuel Castillo Farreras (1932–)
*
Daniel Cosio Villegas (1898–1976)
*
Martha Fernandez
*
Mariano Cuevas
*
José Fuentes Mares (1918–1986)
*
Adolfo Gilly
Adolfo Atilio Gilly Malvagni (25 August 1928 – 4 July 2023) was an Argentine-born Mexican historian and author of various books on the history of and politics of Mexico and Latin America. He served as Professor of History and Political Science ...
*
Pilar Gonzalbo Aizpuru
*
Lucas Alamán
Lucas Ygnacio José Joaquín Pedro de Alcántar Juan Bautista Francisco de Paula de Alamán y Escalada (Guanajuato, New Spain, 18 October 1792 – Mexico City, Mexico, 2 June 1853) was a Mexican scientist, conservative statesman, historian, and ...
*
Luis González y González
Luis González y González (11 October 1925 – 13 December 2003) was a Mexican historian from San José de Gracia, Michoacán, San José de Gracia, Michoacán. He was an expert on the Mexican Revolution and Mexican presidentialism. He publ ...
(1925–2003)
*
Luis González Obregón
*
Enrique Krauze
Enrique Krauze Kleinbort (born 16 September 1947) is a Mexican historian, essayist, editor, and entrepreneur. He has written more than twenty books, some of which are: ''Mexico: Biography of Power'', ''Redeemers'', and ''El pueblo soy yo'' (''I ...
(1947–)
*
Miguel León-Portilla
Miguel León-Portilla (22 February 1926 – 1 October 2019) was a Mexican anthropologist and historian, specializing in Aztec culture and literature of the pre-Columbian and colonial eras. Many of his works were translated to English and he was ...
(1926–)
*
Alfredo López Austin
Alfredo Federico López Austin (March 12, 1936 – October 15, 2021) was a Mexican historian who wrote extensively on the Aztec worldview and on Mesoamerican religion. As an academic teacher, he inspired generations of students, but his influence ...
(1936–)
*
Leonardo López Luján (1964–)
*
Jorge Alberto Manrique
*
Francisco Martin Moreno (1946–)
*
Álvaro Matute Aguirre
*
Margarita Menegus
*
Alfonso Mendiola
*
Jean Meyer (1942–)
*
Lorenzo Meyer (1942–)
*
Juan Miralles (1930–2011)
*
Moguel Josefina Flores (1952–)
*
Edmundo O'Gorman (1906–1995)
*
Héctor Pérez Martínez (1906–1948)
*
Constantino Reyes-Valerio (1922–2006)
*
Antonio Rubial
*
Rafael Tovar y de Teresa
Rafael Tovar y de Teresa (April 6, 1954 – December 10, 2016) was a Mexican diplomat, lawyer, scholar and historian. He was ambassador of Mexico to Italy between 2001 and 2007 and the second president of the National Council for Culture and t ...
*
Guillermo Tovar y de Teresa
*
Paco Ignacio Taibo II
*
Cristina Pacheco Torales
*
Elisa Vargas Lugo
*
Bolívar Zapata
*
José David Gamboa
*
Vito Alessio Robles
Chronology
National Prize for Arts and Sciences (Premio Nacional de Ciencias y Artes) awarded
Linguistics and literature
''Lingüística y Literatura''
*2014:
Dolores Castro
*2011:
Daniel Sada
*2010:
Maruxa Vilalta
*2005:
Carlos Monsiváis
Carlos Monsiváis Aceves (May 4, 1938 – June 19, 2010) was a Mexican philosopher, writer, critic, political activist, and journalist. He also wrote political opinion columns in leading newspapers within the country's progressive sectors. ...
*2004:
Margo Glantz
*2002:
Elena Poniatowska
Hélène Elizabeth Louise Amélie Paula Dolores Poniatowska Amor (born May 19, 1932), known professionally as Elena Poniatowska (), is a French-born Mexican journalist and author, specializing in works on social and political issues focused on ...
*2001:
Vicente Leñero
*2000:
Margit Frenk
*1995:
Juan Miguel Lope Blanch
*1993:
Sergio Pitol
*1988:
Eduardo Lizalde
*1987:
Alí Chumacero
*1986:
Rafael Solana
*1985:
Marco Antonio Montes de Oca
*1984:
Carlos Fuentes Macías
*1983:
Jaime Sabines
Jaime Sabines Gutiérrez (March 25, 1926 – March 19, 1999) was a Mexican contemporary poet. Known as “the sniper of Literature” as he formed part of a group that transformed literature into reality, he wrote ten volumes of poetry, and his w ...
*1982:
Elías Nandino
Elías Nandino (April 19, 1900 – October 3, 1993) was a Mexican poet.
Biography
Nandino was born in Cocula, Jalisco. As a boy, he was brought up in the Catholic religion and served as an altar boy. He also attended Catholic school. Nandino's ...
*1981:
Mauricio Magdaleno
Mauricio Magdaleno Cardona (13 May 1906 – 30 June 1986), better known as Mauricio Magdaleno, was a Mexican screenwriter and occasional director of the Golden Age of Mexican cinema. He was nominated for six Ariel Awards and won for his sec ...
*1980:
José Luis Martínez Rodríguez
José Luis Martínez Rodríguez (b. 1918 in Atoyac, Jalisco; d. 2007, Mexico City) was a Mexican academic, diplomat, essayist, historian, bibliographer and editor. He was the director of the Fondo de Cultura Económica from 1977 to 1982 and profes ...
*1979:
Juan José Arreola
Juan José Arreola Zúñiga (September 21, 1918 – December 3, 2001) was a Mexican writer, academic, and actor. He is considered Mexico's premier experimental short story writer of the 20th century. Arreola is recognized as one of the first Lat ...
*1978:
Fernando Benítez
*1977:
Octavio Paz
Octavio Paz Lozano (March 31, 1914 – April 19, 1998) was a Mexican poet and diplomat. For his body of work, he was awarded the 1977 Jerusalem Prize, the 1981 Miguel de Cervantes Prize, the 1982 Neustadt International Prize for Literature, a ...
*1976: (Tie)
**
Antonio Gómez Robledo
**
Efraín Huerta
Efraín Huerta Roma (June 18, 1914 – February 3, 1982) was a Mexican poet and journalist. Born and raised in the state of Guanajuato, he moved to Mexico City initially to start a career in art. Unable to enter the Academy of San Carlos, he ...
*1975:
Francisco Monterde
Francisco de Asís Monterde García Icazbalceta (August 9, 1894 in Mexico City – February 27, 1985 in Mexico City) was a prolific and multifaceted Mexican writer whose career spanned over fifty years. He was an important promoter of the arts ...
*1974:
Rubén Bonifaz Nuño
Rubén Bonifaz Nuño (12 November 1923 – 31 January 2013) was a Mexican poet and classics, classical scholar.
Born in Córdoba, Veracruz, he studied law at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) from 1934 to 1947. In 1960, he b ...
*1973:
Agustín Yáñez
*1972:
Rodolfo Usigli
*1971:
Daniel Cosío Villegas
Daniel Cosío Villegas (; July 23, 1898 – March 10, 1976) was a Mexican economist, essayist, historian, and diplomat.
Career and education
Cosío Villegas was born in Mexico City.
After studying one year in engineering and two years of philos ...
*1970:
Juan Rulfo
Juan Nepomuceno Carlos Pérez Rulfo Vizcaíno, best known as Juan Rulfo (; 16 May 1917 – 7 January 1986), was a Mexican writer, screenwriter, and photographer. He is best known for two literary works, the 1955 novel ''Pedro Páramo'', and the ...
*1969:
Silvio Zavala Vallado
*1968:
José Gorostiza
*1967:
Salvador Novo
Salvador Novo López (July 30, 1904 – January 13, 1974) was a Mexican writer, poet, playwright, translator, television presenter, entrepreneur, and the official chronicler of Mexico City. As a noted intellectual, he influenced popular percepti ...
López
*1966:
Jaime Torres Bodet
Jaime Mario Torres Bodet (17 April 1902 – 13 May 1974) was a prominent Mexican politician and writer who served in the executive cabinet of three Presidents of Mexico. He was the second Director-General of the United Nations Educational, Sci ...
*1965:
Ángel María Garibay
Angel is a given name meaning "angel", "messenger". In the English-speaking world Angel is used for both boys and girls.
From the medieval Latin masculine name ''Angelus'', which was derived from the name of the heavenly creature (itself derived ...
*1964:
Carlos Pellicer Cámara
*1958:
Martín Luis Guzmán
*1949:
Mariano Azuela González
*1946:
Alfonso Reyes
*1935:
Gregorio López y Fuentes
Gregorio is a masculine given name and a surname. It may refer to:
Given name
* Gregorio Aglipay (1860–1940), Filipino revolutionary and first supreme bishop of the Philippine Independent Church
* Gregorio Conrado Álvarez (1925–2016), Urugua ...
History, Social Sciences, and Philosophy

''Historia, Ciencias Sociales y Filosofía''
*2007:
Pilar Gonzalbo Aizpuru and
Eduardo Matos Moctezuma
Eduardo Matos Moctezuma (born December 11, 1940) is a Mexican archaeologist. From 1978 to 1982 he directed excavations at the Templo Mayor, the remains of a major Aztec pyramid in central Mexico City.
Matos Moctezuma graduated with a ma ...
*1997:
Rodolfo Stavenhagen
Rodolfo Stavenhagen (29 August 1932 – 5 November 2016) was a German-born Mexican sociologist and anthropologist who specialized in the study of human rights and the political relations between indigenous peoples and states. He was a professor-r ...
*1986:
Luis Villoro Toranzo
*1985:
Alfonso Noriega Cantú
*1984:
Pablo González Casanova
*1983:
Luis González y González
Luis González y González (11 October 1925 – 13 December 2003) was a Mexican historian from San José de Gracia, Michoacán, San José de Gracia, Michoacán. He was an expert on the Mexican Revolution and Mexican presidentialism. He publ ...
*1982:
Héctor Fix Zamudio
*1981:
Miguel León-Portilla
Miguel León-Portilla (22 February 1926 – 1 October 2019) was a Mexican anthropologist and historian, specializing in Aztec culture and literature of the pre-Columbian and colonial eras. Many of his works were translated to English and he was ...
*1980:
Leopoldo Zea Aguilar
*1979:
Gonzalo Aguirre Beltrán
Gonzalo Aguirre Beltrán (January 20, 1908 in Tlacotalpan, Veracruz –1996 in Xalapa, Veracruz) was a Mexican anthropologist known for his studies of marginal populations. His work has focused on Afro-Mexican and indigenous populations. He wa ...
*1978:
Mario de la Cueva
*1977:
Víctor L. Urquidi Bingham
*1976:
Eduardo García Máynez
Eduardo García Máynez (January 11, 1908 – September 2, 1993) was an academic, jurist, and philosopher of Mexican law. He was a member of the National College, managing Director of Instituto Tecnologico Autonomo de Mexico, teacher at Nat ...
*1962:
Jesús Silva Herzog
*1960:
Alfonso Caso
Alfonso Caso y Andrade (1 February 1896 – 30 November 1970) was an archaeologist who made important contributions to pre-Columbian studies in his native Mexico.
As a university student, he was part of a group of young intellectuals known as '' ...
Awards
*
Nobel Prize for Literature
The Nobel Prize in Literature, here meaning ''for'' Literature (), is a Swedish literature prize that is awarded annually, since 1901, to an author from any country who has, in the words of the will of Swedish industrialist Alfred Nobel, "in t ...
: Octavio Paz
*
Miguel de Cervantes Prize
The Miguel de Cervantes Prize () is awarded annually to honour the lifetime achievement of an outstanding writer in the Spanish language. The ''Encyclopædia Britannica'' calls it "most prestigious and remunerative award given for Spanish-languag ...
: Octavio Paz, Carlos Fuentes, Sergio Pitol,
José Emilio Pacheco
José Emilio Pacheco Berny (30 June 1939 – 26 January 2014) was a Mexican poet, essayist, novelist and short story writer. He is regarded as one of the major Mexican poets of the second half of the 20th century. The Berlin International Lit ...
,
Elena Poniatowska
Hélène Elizabeth Louise Amélie Paula Dolores Poniatowska Amor (born May 19, 1932), known professionally as Elena Poniatowska (), is a French-born Mexican journalist and author, specializing in works on social and political issues focused on ...
,
Fernando del Paso
Fernando del Paso Morante (April 1, 1935 – November 14, 2018) was a Mexican novelist, essayist and poet.
Biography
Del Paso was born in Mexico City and took two years in economics at the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). He ...
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Neustadt Prize: Octavio Paz, Carlos Fuentes (candidate), Homero Aridjis (candidate)
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Jerusalem Prize
The Jerusalem Prize for the Freedom of the Individual in Society is a biennial literary award given to writers whose works have dealt with themes of human freedom in society.
It is awarded at the Jerusalem International Book Forum (previously kn ...
: Octavio Paz
"Jerusalem Prize for 1977 to Go to Octavio Paz, a Mexican Poet"
Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Retrieved 18 February 2014.
* Alfonso Reyes Prize: Octavio Paz, Juan José Arreola, José Emilio Pacheco, Ali Chumacero, José Luis Martínez, Ramón Xirau, Rubén Bonifaz Nuño
* National Prize for Literature: Octavio Paz, Sergio Pitol, Juan Rulfo, Carlos Monsivais, Juan José Arreola, Margo Glantz, Elena Poniatowska, Ali Chumacero, Vicente Leñero, Mariano Azuela, Alfonso Reyes, Jaime Sabines, Maruxa Vilalta
* Menendez y Pelayo International Prize: Octavio Paz, Carlos Fuentes, José Luis Martínez
* Prince of Asturias Award
The Princess of Asturias Awards (, ), formerly the Prince of Asturias Awards from 1981 to 2014 (), are a series of annual prizes awarded in Spain by the Princess of Asturias Foundation (previously the Prince of Asturias Foundation) to individuals ...
: Carlos Fuentes, Juan Rulfo
* Guggenheim Fellowship
Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...
: Sergio Pitol, Homero Aridjis, Juan García Ponce, Alfredo López Austin, Margo Glantz, Elena Poniatowska, Fernando del Paso, Vicente Leñero, Ramón Xirau, Rubén Bonifaz Nuño, Leonardo López Luján
* Romulo Gallegos Prize: Carlos Fuentes, Elena Poniatowska, Fernando del Paso, Ángeles Mastretta
* Federico Garcia Lorca Prize: José Emilio Pacheco
* Juan Rulfo Prize: Sergio Pitol, Carlos Monsiváis, Tomás Segovia, Juan José Arreola, Juan García Ponce
* Octavio Paz Prize: Tomás Segovia, José Emilio Pacheco
See also
* List of Mexican writers
* List of Mexican poets
* Infrarealism
* Crack Movement
References
External links
Preface to C.M. Mayo anthology Mexico: A Traveler's Literary Companion
{{Authority control
Mexican literature,
Latin American literature by country
North American literature
Spanish-language literature