Mikeas Sánchez

Mikeas Sánchez is the author of How to Be a Good Savage and Other Poems (Milkweed Editions, 2024), translated into English by Wendy Call and Shook. Sánchez is one of the most important poets of the Indigenous Americas, working in Zoque, a language spoken in southern Mexico. She is the only woman to have ever published a book of poetry in that language. Her six volumes of poetry, including Mokaya / Mojk’Jäyä (Pluralia, 2013) and Mumure’ tä’ yäjktambä / Todos somos cimarrones (Desde el margen, 2012), are all bilingual Spanish-Zoque. Sánchez’s work has been translated into Bangla, Catalan, English, German, Italian, Maya, Mixe, and  Portuguese.

In Chiapas, Mexico, Sánchez was awarded first place in the “Y el Bolóm dice …” Prize for Fiction, as well as receiving the Pat O’tan Prize for Indigenous Poetry.

Sánchez is also a radio producer, translator, community health promoter, and defender of Zoque lands. She lives in Ajway, Chiapas.