Andy Mulligan talks about Trash

Andy Mulligan, opens a new window is a fantastic British author who has written some great books including Ribblestrop, opens a new window and Trash, opens a new window.  He worked as a theatre director and a teacher before becoming a writer.

Trash, opens a new window, is one of my favourite books. It is one of those books that you don’t want to put down because you just want to find out how it ends. When I finished Trash I had a few questions that I really wanted to ask the author, Andy Mulligan.  He very kindly answered them for me and you can read his answers right here.

You’ve taught English and Drama in India, Brazil and the Philippines.  Did your experiences in these countries inspire you to write Trash?

Yes, my experiences abroad inspired the book. The opening descriptions that Raphael gives us, about wading through human muck…that is completely real. There’s a dumpsite in Manila that I visited, and the things I saw will stay with me forever.  The book is inspired by Manila, but never identified as such – for the simple reason that such places exist all over the developing world. We are all familiar with stories of child labour, child poverty – but the dumpsites are particularly heartbreaking.

Did you meet kids like Raphael, Gardo and Rat?

The characters are all based on children I have met. I tend to fuse two or even three children together, so Raphael (for example) is a Calcutta streetboy and a Manila flower-seller. Both boys survived on their wits, trudging all day to make a dollar – resilient, charismatic and totally determined. The ‘Trash’ boys are instinctive and quick, and can swindle you in seconds…that’s my experience of street-children who have to be versatile and brilliant.

Did you know how the story would end before you started writing?

Yes, I did know the end. The story came to me almost fully-formed. I was thinking about it whilst teaching, and had no time to write until my Easter holidays. That meant that I had thought about the storyline and the characters for some time, and I found that when I did write it, there was rarely a temptation to go off on tangents. I liked the lean, quick, thriller-esque race, and the final images were there in my head at a very early stage.

What message would you like kids to take away from reading Trash?

I like the journey Olivia goes on – I like her realization that the world is more complicated than she’d thought, and being sentimental about poverty is not a valid response – I like her anger. I like the determination of my characters, and the notion that those without power will find a way of fighting, and winning.