143: José Moreno Carbonell

It was a great pleasure to meet José Moreno Carbonell for my latest Nostalgia Interview. Our paths may have once crossed in Lampeter where we were both students in the 1990s. José lives in France but comes from Spain and works as a high school Spanish teacher.

José has just had a novel published called A la sombra de la glicinia - https://www.amazon.es/sombra-glicinia-Antonio-Moreno-Carbonell/dp/B09W7FLQ49 - which is a recreation of oral tradition from his home village mixed with classical mythology and 20th century Spanish history. It was written during lockdown and José talks about how it came about and the way in which writing was a survival strategy.

We learn about José’s earliest memories from growing up in Spain and how he comes from a family of school teachers. He always wanted to be a writer and we find out how José couldn’t have been a writer if he hadn’t become a teacher.

We learn about José’s TV influences when growing up in Spain in the days when there was just one channel, and we talk about the music our children listen to and how José started liking his father’s classical music when a teenager. We also discuss the musical accomplishments that our children inherit.

We find out about the teachers who made an impression as well as about José’s time in Lampeter and the benefits from living there compared to a city life. We also discover why he would never keep a diary of his own. José then tells me a story from the time he was 12 years of age involving a Nobel Prize for Literature winner, The Three Musketeers and false memories.

At the end of the interview we talk about what he wanted to be as a teenager, the advantage sometimes in not being paid for the things we love doing, why José is a looking forward person and why ‘this year’s Christmas will be next year’s nostalgia’.

Please note: Opinions expressed are solely those of Chris Deacy and José Moreno Carbonell and do not necessarily represent the views or opinions of the University of Kent.