The Little Tokyo Historical Society seeks fictional short stories for its fifth annual Imagine Little Tokyo short story contest in the categories of English language, Japanese language and youth (18 and younger). The deadline is Jan. 31.
The purpose of the contest is to raise awareness of Little Tokyo through a creative story that takes place in Little Tokyo. The story has to be fictional and set in a current, past or future Little Tokyo in Los Angeles.
The short story committee will be specifically looking for stories that capture the spirit and sense of Little Tokyo. Each category winner will be awarded $500 in cash and their story will be published in the Rafu Shimpo and Discover Nikkei website.
A public award ceremony and dramatic readings of the winning stories are also being planned for spring 2018.
“The contest opened doors for me,” said Sarena Kuhn, the 2016 youth winner. “It introduced me to writers in the Japanese American community and gave me an opportunity to read at a book festival and become a judge the following year.”
For more information and guidelines, refer to the Little Tokyo Historical Society website (littletokyohs.org).
