Antonio Carreño: "Social networks are a great showcase"

Antonio Carreño's first collection of poems is a black box that holds the answers we have left after the accident. Of loving, of believing, of living. Answers that make us ask ourselves again: why not try again?

For this author: "These poems speak of those nights when I bit my tongue because I couldn't bite yours, of all the mirrors I broke to stop seeing you, of the leaves that no autumn dared to pluck. They are a muffled cry of love and revolution, if they were not the same".

Someone said that science tries to tell difficult matters with simple words and that poetry tries to tell simple matters with difficult words. We don't know where Antonio Carreño, veterinarian and poetry writer, feels most comfortable. In 2019, after a few years feeding a blog, he published his first collection of poems 'Y cosas que me callo' with Aguilar (Penguin Random House). Since then he has not stopped growing in social networks. He is also the author of a viral phrase that says that "learning to fly requires many hours on the ground", and in which he is not usually quoted. This Alicante-born, Madrid-based author is already working on his second book.

How does someone go from Veterinary Science to writing?

I don't think it's incompatible. When I was a child I was already writing stories that didn't get anywhere. It was the mixture of finding the right teacher, the restlessness in music as an author, with being a person who questions everything and is enriched by life experiences. And with books, of course. That's where the need to share it on the networks came from.

At the moment I continue to combine it with my work as a veterinarian without any problems.

Your first collection of poems is entitled 'Y cosas que me calllo'. What are the things you keep quiet about?

'Y cosas que me calllo' is a settling of scores.

Who hasn't had that happen to them after a break-up, an argument, a job interview... we always come up with the perfect phrase when it's too late. I wanted to be at peace with myself. To say it, even if it was late. But to say it beautifully.

It does ring a bell. I published that phrase in 2016, in a compilation of micropoems with other authors. I don't know how, but I lost control of that phrase, it became independent of me and people began to quote it under the name of Benedetti, 'The Little Prince' or Joaquín Sabina. What's more, they shared the same photograph of the book (whose poem is number 31, which gives it its title) cutting my name out from below.

How does all this make you feel?

I have mixed feelings. On the one hand, I'm proud to see my phrase on the main Hispanic literature channels, being quoted by influencers or marketed on bottles of wine or notebooks. But obviously, it saddens me that it is not associated with me. A short phrase also has a lot of work behind it. Sometimes social media is overwhelming.

Now that you mention social media, what do you think of modern poetry and its rise on social media?

Social networks are a great showcase. They have democratised all the arts.
It's a complex issue. People tend to trash the work of authors with thousands of followers. Success is not tolerated. You can like an author more or less, but to belittle their work is to belittle all those people who read it and enjoy it. Let time be the judge of whether a current author deserves to be studied in tomorrow's literature books.

Is it true that inspiration sharpens during heartbreak?

They always say that when you're happy you don't waste time writing, but rather enjoying yourself. I think it's more therapeutic. It's that need to channel bitter feelings. To understand ourselves. To look for the same bitter experiences in others in order to feel less alone. Channelling happy feelings is easier.

I, of course, feel more comfortable writing to nostalgia.

What are your literary references?

It depends on the period. When I was a child I used to read J. J. Benítez and I spent the day looking for UFOs in the sky. When I was a teenager, I was drawn to Arturo Pérez-Reverte. Nowadays, when it comes to poetry, I greatly admire authors who have life experiences and things to tell: Karmelo C. Iribarren, Roger Wolfe, Ana Pérez Cañamares, etc. ...

Music and rock music have also influenced me a lot when it comes to finding a style.

In a few months you will publish your second collection of poems, what are we going to find in it?

It's going to sound cliché. But it will reflect more maturity and more experience.

The best book is always the one yet to be written. I still don't want to reveal the title or the subject matter, but it will keep the format of aphorisms, micro-stories and poems interspersed.  

What other projects are you working on?

I recently recited in a video clip with a singer-songwriter friend, Rash, and it was an incredible experience. Now I'm still updating social media and I have a podcast project in the works. I also have in mind to start a novel. I'll keep you updated...

Antonio Carreño (Alicante, 1986) has a degree in Veterinary Medicine and is a writer. He has published the poetry book 'Y cosas que me callo' with the collection Verso&Cuento de Aguilar. He is currently preparing a second book with the same publisher. You can find him on social networks as @ycosasquememecallo.