Ermilo Abreu Gómez was also, in his youth, a playwright and novelist known for his archaic style: *La xtabay*, Mérida, 1919; *El corcovado*, 1924; *La vida del venerable siervo de Dios Gregorio López*, 1925. This passion can explain his interest in colonial literature, to whose most distinguished figures—Ruiz de Alarcón, Sigüenza y Góngora, and Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz—he dedicated significant studies. Abreu Gómez is particularly credited with bringing the work of the great poetess to the attention of critics. Much of the surge in Sor Juana studies in Mexico and abroad was fostered by the numerous essays (Semblanzas, 1938), critical editions (Carta Atenagórica, 1934; Liras, 1934; Poesías, 1940; Poesías completas, 1947), iconography (1934), and bibliography (1934) produced over many years by one of the most devoted scholars of the Tenth Muse of Mexico. Abreu Gómez is also responsible for Lecciones de literatura española (1937), critical notes on literary matters, Clásicos, románticos y modernos (1934), and Sala de retratos (1946).

Abreu Gómez's works dedicated to Yucatecan themes contain some of his most beautiful pages: Canek (1940), Héroes mayas (1942), and Quetzalcóatl. Dream and Vigil (1947), Shipwreck of Indians (1951), and Legends and Tales of Ancient Yucatán (1961). He recounted his childhood and youth in two volumes of memoirs: The Dawn Would Be… (1954) and Sorrows and Heartbreaks (1959).

Having already examined other aspects of his work, he found his greatest successes in indigenous themes. Among the three vignettes in his Mayan Heroes (1942), that of Canek is the most accomplished. In a transparent and lyrical style, barely stirred by the silent and pathetic rebellion that drives his narrative, Abreu Gómez brought to life the childhood years of his hero.