Humberto Ak'ab'al

Who is Humberto Ak'ab'al?

Humberto Ak'ab'al also Ak'abal or Akabal is a K'iche' Maya poet from Guatemala. His poetry has been published in French, English, Estonian, Scots, German, Arabic and Italian translations, as well as in the original K'iche' and Spanish. His book Guardián de la caída de agua was named book of the year by Association of Guatemalan Journalists and received their Golden Quetzal award in 1993. In 1995 he received an honorary degree from the Department of Humanities of the Universidad de San Carlos de Guatemala. In 2004 he declined to receive the Guatemala National Prize in Literature because it is named for Miguel Ángel Asturias, whom Ak'ab'al accused of encouraging racism. He said Asturias' 1923 essay The Social Problem of the Indian, "Offends the indigenous peoples of Guatemala, of which I am part."

He was the recipient of a 2006 Guggenheim fellowship.