Rigoberta Menchú

                                                                                     Guatemala (1959-)
 
 

Menchú became famous after the publication of her book I, Rigoberta Menchú (1984). In the latter, she recounts her life in the Guatemalan highlands, where her family sought to elicit a life farming their own plots,  and doing hard labor at the coffee plantations. She tells of her peoples beliefs, in relation to earth and their role in it. Parallel to this, Menchú also tells of her growing political involvement due to political abuse in Guatemala. She would eventually win the Nobel Peace Prize (1992). Menchú is few of the literary voices coming out from the natives communities in South America, and her view is refreshing if compared to the literary canon in the region which is throughly European in inspiration.