By Paola Velasco
There are many traditions around Day of the Dead, and one of them involves a particular literary genre—the calaverita. The word itself is the diminutive, or affectionate form of calavera—skull. Calaveritas are clever poems for Day of the Dead, and they have a specific form and rules. Atención is inviting readers to submit such a poem, with a contest aimed to find the best calaverita of San Miguel de Allende!
How to create a calaverita?
1. The basic structure consists of three parts: beginning, middle and end. It has to be written in four-line stanzas.
2. What you will be doing is writing a humorous epitaph for someone who is still alive. Sort of like doing a roast. Use words related to death, and in Mexico there is a great variety of synonyms for “death’’ including Catrina, parca, flaca, tilica, huesos—you can use these or the English equivalent if writing in English. There are also related words: cemetery, flowers, candles, and so forth.
3. Identify the character: in addition to establishing the character to honor, it is advisable to describe their spirit or personality. You can also identify things they usually do, as well as some physical and psychological characteristics that distinguish them from others.
4. Make sure to use rhyme and rhythm, because the way a calaverita sounds is very important.
5. And finally, write with love and humor!
Here are the submission rules:
– The theme or character must be known in San Miguel de Allende.
– As far as length—it is a poem, so try to keep the parts or sections under four stanzas.
– Submissions must be emailed no later than October 18 to: editorial@sanmiguel.org.
– Offensive content will not be published.
– The winning Calaverita will be published in the October 27 print edition of Atención San Miguel and the participants will be published on our website.
If you want to know more about how to write a Calaverita, visit Natalie Taylor’s website to read an extensive description: https://www.natalietaylor.org/
