Performed by Val Cole

Get to know the poet:

1. What is your short story about?

This short story is about an adolescent boy and girl who are best friends and the boy comforts the girl when she fears for her older sister taking her own life. We learn at the end of the story that the boy had his older brother take his own life two years prior. It’s a horrible thing that some young siblings have to go through and it changes people’s lives.

2. What genres would you say this story is in?

This story is in the literary fiction genre and is written in a young adult style that is very simplistic and easy to follow, but has a poignant message about love between older and younger siblings, and best friends.

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

Vintage, summer

4. What movie have you seen the most in your life?

The movie that I have seen the most in my life is Girl, Interrupted.

5. What is your favorite song? (Or, what song have you listened to the most times in your life?)

My favorite song is This Is What Makes Us Girls by Lana Del Rey.

6. Do you have an all-time favorite novel?

My all-time favorite novel is Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates.

7. What motivated you to write this story?

The loss of my older sister and her love for the 90s motivated me to write this story.

8. If you could have dinner with one person (dead or alive), who would that be?

If I could have dinner with one person (dead or alive) it would be Ernest Hemingway.

9. Apart from writing, what else are you passionate about?

I am also passionate about art and music, and learning about the law.

10. What influenced you to enter your story to get performed?

I have received a lot of rejection letters for many of my short stories, and I just thought this competition would be a nice way to get some feedback and something tangible to motivate me to continue doing what I’m doing and have something to show people what I can.

11. Any advice or tips you’d like to pass on to other writers?

Well, I’m not really qualified to give tips about writing. I feel like I’m the one who still needs them, but if I have to I would say write a good title that makes you feel proud of your piece and don’t get discouraged by what could inspire you instead.