Come hear Mexican writer Manuel Romero Mier and York PhD student Tania Hernandez Cervantes talk about Day of the Dead today at Stong College.
Day of the Dead: A Celebration of Life will run from 4 to 6pm in the Stong Junior Common Room, 111 Stong College, Keele campus.
Left: Tania Hernandez Cervantes (left) and Manuel Romero Mier
Traditionally, a special altar, called an ofrenda, is made to celebrate the Dia de Los Muertos (Day of the Dead) every Nov. 1 and 2 in Mexico. The altar will have at least three tiers and be covered with pictures of saints, personal items belonging to dead loved ones, as well as pictures of cavorting skeletons (calaveras). Marigolds, water, salt, bread and a candle for each of the dead, with one extra so no one is left out, are also placed on the ofrenda.
These are just some of the things Hernandez Cervantes and Romero Mier will talk about during their lecture.
Hernandez Cervantes is a researcher specializing in ecology and in topics related to sustainable agriculture. She holds an MA from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) and is working toward a PhD in environmental studies at York.
Romero Mier studied physics at the UNAM, and two of his stories, "El Jardín de las Delicias" and "El Niño que quería Caminar", have won literary contests.
Piñata festivities, a musical performance by Mery Perez and Julia Campisi singing Mexican and Latin American songs with guitar accompaniment, and an exhibition of Catrina images by Mexican artist José Guadalupe Posada (1852-1913) will follow the lecture.
Everyone is welcome. Light refreshments will be served.