Ch'ol poetry translations

Together with poet and writer Charlotte Friedman, I have been translating the work of Ch'ol poet, Juana Peñate Montejo. Juana Peñate Montejo is a poet, writer and translator from Tumbalá, Chiapas, Mexico who won the Premio de Literaturas Indígenas de América in 2020 for her collection of poetry Isoñil Ja'al/Danza de la Lluvia (Dance of the rain), written in Ch'ol and self-translated to Spanish.

View from Juana Peñate's roof, January 2022, Tumbalá, Mexico.

Charlotte and I have translated Ipusik'al Matye'lum/Corazón de Selva (Heart of a wild land, published in 2013 by Pluralia) as well as Isoñil Ja'al/Danza de la Lluvia (Dance of the rain, to be published this year by the University of Guadalajara).

publications

Forthcoming. Translation of xCh'ok "Girl" by Juana Peñate in Poetry London.
2023 Two Ch'ol poems by Miriam Hernandez, translated by me and Charlotte Friedman in World Literature Today . [link]
2023. Translations of two poems by Juana Peñate Montejo. Hayden's Ferry Review. "Dance of the Rain" nominated for Deep Vellum’s Best Literary Translations Anthology 2025 [link]
2023. Translations of five poems by Juana Peñate Montejo. On the Seawall. [link]
2023. Translations of seven poems by Juana Peñate Montejo. Asymptote. [link]
2022. Three Ch'ol poems by Juana Peñate Montejo in translation. Journal of Latina Critical Feminism. [link]
2022. Translations of two poems by Juana Peñate Montejo in translation. The Arkansas International. [link]
2022. Seven Poems by Juana Peñate in translation from Ch'ol and a Translators' Note. Exchanges published by the University of Iowa. [link]
2022. Five Ch'ol poems by Juana Peñate Montejo in translation. North Dakota Quarterly. [link]
2022. Translating Ch’ol: A Bridge Between Linguistics and Poetry (Featured Translator's Note) and Three poems in translation in World Literature Today. Print Edition. “I Am the Alphabet,” “This Land, Your World,” “When I Wake” were shortlisted for Deep Vellum’s Best Literary Translations Anthology 2024
2021. “Poetry is like the rain, the wind, like walking”: An Interview with Ch’ol Poet Juana Peñate Montejo and Five Poems. Latin American Literature Today. [link]

Juana Peñate Montejo

Juana Peñate Montejo is a Ch’ol poet, writer, translator, educator and cultural promoter from Emiliano Zapata, Tumbalá, Chiapas, Mexico. She has authored several books of poetry in Ch’ol with self-translations in Spanish including Mi nombre ya no es silencio (My name is no longer silence published) by Coneculta in 2002, Ipusik’al Matye’lum/Corazón de Selva (Heart of a wild land), first published by Pluralia in 2013, and most recently Isoñil Ja’al/Danza de la Lluvia (Dance of the rain), which won the 2020 Premio de Literaturas Indígenas de América and will be published this year by the University of Guadalajara.