Death is life’s only certainty, the great leveller – so why do we find it so hard to talk about it?
That’s the question raised by a recent poll that marked Celebration Day, a British spin on Mexico’s Día de los Muerto (Day of the Dead) which since 2022 has been held each May.
The survey found that over a quarter of Brits feel awkward discussing death and almost a third feel guilty for expressing grief, worrying about burdening others. For this year’s event, a host of celebrities including actor and comedian Stephen Mangan, actor and director Maisie Richardson-Sellers and actor Nathaniel Parker recorded poems at Abbey Road studios in tribute to loved ones and inspiring figures in their lives.