De catro a catro

Published in 1928 by Editorial Nós, De catro a catro grows out of Manuel Antonio’s maritime experience. He had sailed as a trainee officer and transformed decks, ports, machines, horizons and watches at sea into poetic material far removed from traditional landscape writing.

The book is conceived as a ship’s log. Graphic arrangement, silences, mechanical imagery and fragmented verse bring it close to European avant-garde movements without erasing its Galician language or perspective. The sea appears as a space of modernity, isolation and search.

Its brevity contrasts with its enormous later influence. De catro a catro became a reference point for understanding how Galician literature could engage with international avant-gardes from a position of its own.