Adolfo Méndez Vides

• Name — Adolfo Méndez Vides • Birth Name — Gilberto Adolfo Méndez Vides • Born — 1956 • Birthplace — Antigua Guatemala, Sacatepéquez Department, Guatemala • Occupation — Writer, poet, cultural journalist, literary columnist • Language — Spanish • Notable Works — Las catacumbas; Las murallas • Awards — Miguel Ángel Asturias National Prize in Literature (2025)

Méndez Vides was born in 1956 in Antigua Guatemala, in the department of Sacatepéquez. He grew up in Antigua Guatemala and later maintained ties with both that city and Guatemala City. His first book published through an editorial project was the short-story collection Escritores famosos y otros desgraciados, issued by Rin-78. In a 2026 profile, eP Investiga reported that Max Araujo, who was involved with that publishing project, regarded the book as the definitive beginning of Méndez Vides's literary career. Méndez Vides's novel Las catacumbas won the Premio Latinoamericano de Novela Nueva Nicaragua in 1986 and was first published in 1987. Literary scholar Claudia García described the novel as a work set in Mazatenango in the mid-1960s and argued that it occupied a position close to, but distinct from, both the "new Guatemalan novel" and postwar Central American narrative. His novel Las murallas won the Premio de Novela Mario Monteforte Toledo in 1997. Prensa Libre reported in 2014 that the book, which follows two Guatemalans in New York, had been reissued in a second edition. Méndez Vides has also worked as a literary columnist and cultural journalist. In an interview with Agencia Ocote, he said that he began publishing columns and articles in El Imparcial around 1978 and later wrote two weekly columns for elPeriódico for 26 years. As part of the 2025 national literature prize, a selection of his literary essays was announced for publication under the title Viaje al centro de los libros, the same title he had used for his column in elPeriódico.

• Escritores famosos y otros desgraciados — short stories. • Las catacumbas — novel; first published in 1987 and reissued in 2001. • Las murallas — novel. • El tercer patio — short stories. • El leproso — novel.