Themes of love, happiness, sadness and the magic that can be found in everyday life resound in Navios del alma (Ships of the Soul), the first collection of 29 poems published in July of 2013 by Nicoyan Carlos Briceño Sequeira, also known as “Carlitos Deep” or “C,Deep.”
The pseudonym Deep is a result of his friendship with the late Nicoyan musician, Fidel Gamboa Góldenberg, lead singer of Malpais, one of the most famous bands of Costa Rica, to whom the book is dedicated. “What, Carlitos, have you decided yet to express this poetry?” Gamboa would say to Briceño, encouraging him to express the depths of what he held inside him.
Whenever Gamboa was in Nicoya, Briceño used to get together with him in La Fulana Cosa to talk for hours about poetry, literature and other themes. “Fidel marked an era. He put Nicoya on the musical map of this country through his poetry. He was a poet with a high sense of commitment and sensitivity for the issues of daily life and he knew how to capture them in his songs that will never be forgotten,” Briceño commented.
The poetry book was illustrated by Fidel’s brother, Héctor Gamboa Góldenberg, and includes an introduction written by Fidel’s uncle, Nicoyan singer-songwriter Max Góldenberg Guevara, who wrote: “Carlitos draws for us the everyday that we have lost for being there. Obviously he is in love with love and his pen delivers us hope, the ecstasy of being happy.”
Briceño, age 38, currently lives in Casitas de Nicoya and teaches social studies at the Nicoya night school and Lakeside International School. He has a degree in social studies from the National University (UNA) in Heredia.
Briceño credits his early passion for poetry to the influence of his grandfather, Vicente Sequeira, who read to him aloud when he was a boy. When he was young, Briceño wrote a story to enter in a contest that he saw in a newspaper, but he was too embarrassed to send it in. Gradually, however, he conquered this shyness. The first person he worked up the courage to show his writing was Fidel Gamboa. “Fidel believed in me. He told me that I had a lot of talent that I decided to write. It’s impossible to not miss him,” he related.
Now Briceño is happy to share his writing with everyone and he dedicates time each day to writing. Aside from being a passion, he feels an ethical commitment to poetry. Currently Briceño is working on two novels and a second poetry collection, which he considers even more ambicious since seven of the poems are accompanied by music.
Navios del alma, with an initial self-funded printing of 500 copies, is available for 5000 colones ($10) in Nicoya at La Fulana Cosa, Cafetería D´ Melon and Tienda WyW; in Nandayure at Tienda Detalles; in Santa Cruz at Soda el Mango; and in Liberia at the German bakery near the airport and in bookstores Robaco and La Suiza.
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