Call for Submissions: United Kingdom and Ireland Collection of Mexican Day of the Dead Skull Poems / Calaveras Literarias 2025

Black and white illustration of a skeletal figure wearing an ornate, wide-brimmed hat adorned with feathers and flowers. The style is reminiscent of José Guadalupe Posada’s ’La Catrina,’ a famous Mexican engraving associated with Día de los Muertos.

The Embassy of Mexico in the UK and co-collaborator Dr Jane Lavery (Southampton University) would like to invite you to submit a calavera literaria (skull poem) for inclusion in an upcoming compilation. The invitation is open to Mexicans and non-Mexicans living in the UK and Ireland of all ages.

The release of the compilation will coincide with the Mexican Day of the Dead celebrations. This will be the first ever digital compilation of its kind to be produced in the UK!

Día de Muertos ( Day of the Dead ) is an important annual event with Catholic and Aztec roots. It takes place on 1st and 2nd November, and is celebrated by Mexicans, in Mexico, the USA, the UK and across the world.

The event comprises beautiful rituals that honour the lives of many departed ancestors with happiness and love. Families remember their dead and place altars in their homes. They decorate tombs and attend huge street events, too.

What is a calavera literaria and how is it written?

Calavera literaria are short and fun poems that present death in a playful way. People of all ages enjoy writing them as part of the Día de Muertos celebrations.

Public libraries, schools, universities, civic groups, and newspapers call for poems each year. They are exhibited in schools and public buildings such as art centres, and made available online in poetry collections.

Skull imagery is also common around the Día de Muertos festival. The skulls can be attributed to the satirical and humorous visual portrayals of different social skeletal types. These date back to the work of lithographer and visual artist José Guadalupe Posada. Together with skull imagery, calaveras literarias were published in political broadsides in the 19th and 20th centuries in Mexico.

Calaveras literarias consist of the following:

Short poems vary in length between 4 to 20 verses/lines. They have stanzas of four lines and a rhyming scheme, in which the second line rhymes with the last. Some people do not follow this structure and use free verse (see below for links for examples)
The poems present the idea of death in a funny and playful way, but also as a reminder of the inevitability of death. Death is personified and depicted as a female living character called “La Catrina” who is a skeleton dressed as an extravagant 18th-19th century aristocrat.
The “grand lady of the afterlife” goes by many nicknames. "La Catrina" is also known as "la Calaca" (the Skeleton), "la Huesuda" (the Bony One), "la Flaca" (the Skinny One), "la Dientona" (the Toothy One), "la Pálida" (the Pale One)). She is often seen in the poems interacting with people and trying to snatch them away to take them with her to Mictlán (the underworld). She is not a kind character, and is presented as mischievous, haughty, playful, and rather foolish at times.
The poems describe imaginary situations, and the themes can touch on current affairs and sociocultural issues. They could include political and social satire or irony. They might also explore what it’s like to being a Mexican living abroad, as well as everyday situations.
The poems can be dedicated to people who have passed away or are still alive. They could be fictional or real people. This could include public figures, celebrities, politicians, teachers, families and friends, pets; and even objects.
The poems are mock-epitaphs and are not written to offend, even if they are dedicated to real people who haven't died yet. These poems may seem strange to some. In Mexico, they help people to make peace with with the idea that one day we will all die through the use of humour.
The poems often use foreshadowing and end in surprising, unexpected ways.

What are the rules of submission?

Poems can be written by anyone, of any age and nationality, living in the UK or Ireland.
The poems can be written in Spanish (provided with an English translation), a mixture of Spanish and English, or in English alone. Please check that the Spanish and English are grammatically correct, and that you have checked the spelling.
The poems must have a short title e.g. ‘My Pet Dog Lula’
The poems submitted can be thematically varied. However, they must loosely follow the conventions associated with the genre, including the form, rhyme and content, outlined above.
There are many websites explaining the content and form of calaveras, and how to write them. Here are some sites you could start with:

Poems must be submitted by 19:00 on Wednesday October 1 2025. We will send reminders!
Please send in your calavera or calaveras and (if relevant) image in a word document and not PDF. There must be no more than 1 to 5 poems per submission. Please collate your poems so they fit onto no more than two sides of A4.
Please send to [email protected] with the title 'Skull poem submission'
Your calavera must include at the end of the poem:
- your first name (but not your surname)
- country of origin/birth
- age and country
- town/city of residence
- your email at the top of the document (this won’t be published)
- eg. Juan, 15 years old, Mexican, London (England)
If you are sending your poems as part of a school submission, please add the name of the school, region and country and the child’s first name (not surname), age and school year.
If written by a group of children, the year(s) and ages will suffice. E.g. Emma, 12 years old (Year 7), British, Queen Mary’s Secondary School, London or if a group of children: e.g. Year 13, St John’s Primary School, Manchester (England)
For school submissions, the calavera could be written by a group of children or by individual children. Each school can submit up to 5 poems. Please collate so they fit on no more than two sides of A4.

Images

If you send us an image with your poem, we may include it in the compilation. The best image or images could even be selected for the cover.

Images can be hand-drawn, or digital.
Images must be the author’s own creation and must not infringe copyright rules.
The image must be appropriate to the theme of Day of the Dead (e.g. a Catrina, marigold flower or a skeleton pet).
You will need to include author details as above e.g. Juan, 15 years old, Mexican, London (England).
You must submit your image in the same document as your poem(s). In total, this can be up to two sides of A4.

Publication

The Embassy of Mexico and Southampton University will collate the poems for the 2025 compliation. We will publish the compilation digitally.

You will be able to access it on the University of Southampton Languages, Cultures and Linguistics, and the Embassy of Mexico. It will also be shared on our social media accounts.

By sending your poems and images, you are consenting to their publication in our compilation, and sharing on our social channels.

The compilation is part of Dr Jane Lavery’s research project into the Mexican Day of the Dead. She may contact participants for permission to use anonymous feedback and poems in her research.

Please see our web page to learn more about the Day of the Dead. We've included links to teaching resources, calavera poetry writing examples, and arts-and-crafts activities.

University of Southampton Day of the Dead page

You can also find details on our UK wide secondary schools video competition here:

Day of the Dead Altar Video Competition

We do hope that you are able to participate in this amazing opportunity!

Warm Regards,

Embassy of Mexico in the United Kingdom

Dr Jane Lavery (University of Southampton)