Performed by Val Cole

Get to know the writer:

1. What is your short story about?
An unnamed and unidentified narrator talks to a young man about the Dump Lands, where they work as a shoveler. "The Big Guys" eat what they like, they dump it without care, and leave the mess to be cleaned up by the workers. Through one long monologue, the narrator describes a horrifying reality of abuse and disillusion that may not be so unfamiliar to readers.

2. What genres would you say this story is in?
Political satire, fiction, short story.

3. How would you describe this story in two words?
Work, Rot.

4. What movie have you seen the most in your life?
Bullet Train! It's just so fun.

5. What is your favorite song? (Or, what song have you listened to the
most times in your life?)
Politicians in My Eyes by Black Pumas

6. Do you have an all-time favorite novel?
To call one novel my favorite is a tall order. However, the book I've read recently that has stayed in my mind like an itching wart is Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut.

7. What motivated you to write this story?
I shoveled a large pile of gravel for a home renovation, and as I shoveled, my mind went to a reality not too different from ours. It's true, the rhythmic work is easy to fall into! The Big Guys emerged as a reaction to the current state of capitalism and disregard for the hard workers of this country.

8. If you could have dinner with one person (dead or alive), who would
that be?
My grandfather, I would like to show him everything I've done. He loved stories.

9. Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?
I am passionate about literature, reading classics and new releases, anything that can grow my mind. I also speak passionately against the use of AI in literature and art.

10. What influenced you to enter your story to get performed?
A glass of wine. More professionally, I liked the idea of having my story in another medium for my portfolio. WILDsound Festival is an accessible and supportive site that I was excited to become a part of!

11. Any advice or tips you'd like to pass on to other writers?
Don't edit as you write, you will stay on one paragraph for hours. Let the ugly words be ugly, write to your goal, then edit.
Don't value criticism from people you would not take advice from.