El Chichón volcano in Chiapas, Mexico, erupted in March and April 1982 after centuries of dormancy, killing approximately 2,000 people in nearby villages. The eruption injected large amounts of sulfur dioxide into the stratosphere, causing measurable global cooling for several years. It destroyed multiple indigenous Zoque communities and dramatically altered the local landscape.

The El Chichón eruption affected indigenous Zoque communities whose oral traditions and contemporary poetry reflect on loss, displacement, and environmental change. Mexican poets and writers, including those engaged with indigenous rights movements, have addressed the disaster in works exploring the intersection of natural catastrophe, marginalization, and cultural survival in southern Mexico, contributing to broader Latin American literary conversations about ecology and social justice.