Guatemala — books & literature

The story of Guatemala

Guatemala sits at the heart of the ancient Maya world. From around the first millennium BC, Maya civilization rose across the region, reaching its Classic-era peak between roughly 250 and 900 CE with great cities such as Tikal, whose stone temples still rise above the northern rainforest. Most of the great lowland cities were abandoned by around 900 CE, but Maya peoples and languages endured in the highlands. Spanish conquistador Pedro de Alvarado arrived in 1524 and subdued the highland kingdoms, and for nearly three centuries Guatemala was the seat of the Captaincy General of Guatemala, a Spanish colonial region covering much of Central America, ruled from Antigua Guatemala until a devastating 1773 earthquake forced the capital to move to present-day Guatemala City. Independence from Spain came on 15 September 1821, followed by a brief period in the Federal Republic of Central America. The 20th century brought upheaval, including a civil war from 1960 to 1996 that ended with UN-mediated peace accords. Today Guatemala is the most populous nation in Central America, a country where more than twenty Mayan languages are still spoken alongside Spanish, and where ancient ruins, colonial towns, and volcanic highlands sit side by side.

Timeline — key moments

1. circa 250-900

   Classic Maya period; Tikal and other lowland city-states flourish.

2. circa 900

   Most Classic-era Maya lowland cities are abandoned.

3. 1524

   Spanish conquistador Pedro de Alvarado begins the conquest of the Guatemalan highlands.

4. 1543

   Antigua Guatemala founded as capital of the Captaincy General of Guatemala.

5. 1773

   The Santa Marta earthquake devastates Antigua Guatemala, forcing relocation of the capital.

6. 1821

   Guatemala declares independence from Spain (15 September).

7. 1823-1841

   Guatemala is part of the Federal Republic of Central America.

8. 1960-1996

   Guatemalan Civil War, one of the longest and deadliest conflicts in Latin America.

9. 1996

   Peace Accords signed between the government and URNG, ending the civil war.

Top 10 things to know about Guatemala

1. Tikal, once one of the largest Maya cities, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site deep in the northern rainforest.
2. Antigua Guatemala, the former colonial capital, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site of Spanish Baroque architecture.
3. Guatemala is the most populous country in Central America.
4. The quetzal currency is named after the resplendent quetzal, a brilliantly coloured bird sacred to the ancient Maya.
5. Miguel Ángel Asturias won Guatemala's first Nobel Prize, for Literature in 1967.
6. Rigoberta Menchú won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1992 for her advocacy for indigenous rights.
7. Guatemala has more than 20 Mayan languages still spoken today alongside Spanish.
8. The country has over 30 volcanoes, including active ones such as Fuego and Pacaya.
9. Lake Atitlán, ringed by three volcanoes, is often described as one of the most beautiful lakes in the world.
10. Guatemala is one of the world's major coffee-growing countries.

Famous people from Guatemala

Say it in Guatemala's language

Did you know?

• ★The name "Guatemala" likely comes from the Nahuatl "Cuauhtēmallān", meaning "place of many trees".
• ★Guatemala City became the capital only after Antigua Guatemala, the earlier capital, was wrecked by the 1773 earthquake.
• ★Tikal was once home to tens of thousands of people at a time when few cities in the world reached that size.

Guatemala culture

• Traditional woven textiles, with patterns that vary by town, remain a living Maya art form worn daily by many highland communities.
• Semana Santa (Holy Week) in Antigua Guatemala is famous for elaborate street carpets made of dyed sawdust and flowers.
• Marimba is considered the national instrument and is central to Guatemalan folk and popular music.
• Corn (maize) holds deep cultural and spiritual significance, rooted in Maya creation stories recorded in the Popol Vuh.

Why read Guatemala's books

From the Popol Vuh, the sacred Maya K'iche' creation narrative, to Miguel Ángel Asturias's Nobel-winning fiction, Guatemala's books carry both an ancient indigenous voice and a modern literary one. This shelf is where that story continues.