On December 28th, 2017, Her Campus UPRM sat down with Anthony Acevedo, a millennial Puerto Rican writer with a sincere—and at times morbid—perspective that is translated seamlessly into his work. He made his debut in May 2016 when he released, De Sueños Rotos, a collection of poems and a short story dealing with the themes of love, death, and sexuality.
Last month, Acevedo released his second book, Córtoga. This time, he further explored the short story format, creating an anthology of thirteen short stories. Although the stories are rather morbid, the book develops as an existential tale full of metaphors intertwined with subtle social commentary.
Over frappes at La Marina de Aguadilla’s Cafelados, Acevedo revealed his start as a writer and what led him to write Córtoga.
1. What inspired you to start writing?
AA: I became inspired to start writing when I was eight years old. I met the late Gregorio Nieves, a poet from Moca. His poetry revolved around Christianity, and reading his work got me interested in writing poetry of my own. After that, it wasn’t until high school that I found myself motivated to further develop my writing, thanks to my Spanish class. I still have the poems I wrote when I was eight. I don’t plan on ever releasing them, but I recently noticed that the way I connected the verses back then is the same way I connect them now, meaning that I’ve been developing my writing format since an early age.
2. How has your writing evolved from your first text to your most recent one?
AA: In my first writings, back in my childhood, I mostly just wrote about my family. In high school and college, I started developing themes such as love, eroticism, and existentialism. From De Sueños Rotos to Córtoga, there’s an incredible difference. In De Sueños Rotos, the poems are rather elemental; looking at them now I realize that I could’ve used different words or written the verses in different ways. In Córtoga, I further elaborate on the short story, something I had only done once in De Sueños Rotos.
3. What techniques do you prefer when writing?
AA: I simply just sit down and write. I don’t like to start writing something—such as a poem—and stop to finish it afterwards. I believe that when writing, you must write down everything you’re feeling in the moment, because if you stop halfway through, you might not feel the same emotions you felt at first later on.
4. About Córtoga, what was the inspiration for the title?
AA: The title comes from the combination of the last names of Julio Cortázar and Horacio Quiroga, both renowned authors. I chose the title because the book serves as a tribute to Cortázar’s existentialism and Quiroga’s morbid sense of writing.
5. What made you explore existentialism in Córtoga?
AA: When I started writing the book—around September-October 2016—I was going through personal problems. I felt like my world was crashing down; it was then that I was inspired to start writing short stories again. It was in this time that I met Patrick Oneill—a fellow Puerto Rican author—and he gave me his book, Río Muerto. I felt identified with the topics presented in his book, leading me to start working on what would later be Córtoga.
6. Do you feel like existentialism has been particularly developed recently due to current events?
AA: In part, yes. Lots of things are happening in the world, we can see it a lot in the government and how we have been taking steps backwards in advancements we had achieved in the past. Bad parts of history are seemingly repeating themselves, with conservative ideologies influencing public decisions that affect vulnerable people. So, I do think these events lead to people questioning their surroundings, turning them towards developing existentialist texts.
7. What are your plans after Córtoga?
AA: I currently don’t have any plans to publish in 2018. The writing process for Córtoga left me exhausted, so I’m looking forward to taking a break. However, I am interested in further promoting my work, hopefully reaching Latin America and Spain. I’m also looking into a possible English translation of Córtoga and releasing a second edition of De Sueños Rotos, I’m interested in revamping the poems in the latter and maybe adding new parts. Even though I may not be writing, I’ll still remain active in the author community and stay aware of what’s up.
“I’d also like to say thanks to Fernando Correa, without him I would not have been able to publish De Sueños Rotos.” Anthony added after the interview was over. “He was the poet that showed me the medium of self-publishing. I owe how a big amount of gratitude.”
Anthony Acevedo’s books are currently available for purchase on Amazon: click here to visit his Amazon page.
If you want to get in contact with the author and stay updated on his work, click here to visit his Facebook page.
(Note: This interview was translated from Spanish)