Imagine Little Tokyo Short Story Contest Editing Workshop

FREE Virtual Workshop!

For more information, e-mail hiraharanaomi@gmail.com

 Imagine Little Tokyo Editing Workshop with

Writers Iris Yamashita and Gary Phillips on January 19

           Writers Iris Yamashita and Gary Phillips will be leading a free virtual editing workshop on Thursday, January 19, from 6 to 7 PM (PST) to help individuals edit entries for the 10th Anniversary Imagine Little Tokyo Short Story Contest. Committee co-chair Miya Iwataki will be moderating the workshop.

            Presented by Little Tokyo Historical Society (LTHS) in partnership with Discover Nikkei, a Japanese American National Museum’s project, the Imagine Little Tokyo short story contest seeks to raise awareness of Little Tokyo through a creative story that takes place in the historic neighborhood. The story must be fictional and set in a current, past, or future Little Tokyo, Los Angeles. The short story committee will be specifically looking for stories that capture the spirit and sense of Little Tokyo. Deadline for this year’s contest is January 31, 2023. In honor of the 10th year anniversary winners of three categories – adult, youth and Japanese language – will each win a cash prize of $1,000 as well as publication in The Rafu Shimpo, Discover Nikkei and LTHS website. Noted actors will read the short stories as part of a special virtual awards ceremony.

            Iris Yamashita is the Oscar-nominated screenwriter of the feature film, “Letters from Iwo Jima.” Her debut novel, City Under One Roof, was released this month. Gary Phillips has written numerous mystery novels, short stories, worked in television on “Snowfall,” and edited various anthologies including the recent South Central Noir.

RSVPs to the free workshop are required; go to http://www.janm.org/events/ and click the event link to register. Registrants will be emailed links and instructions to join the conversation on Zoom. Contact publicprograms@janm.org for additional questions or specific access concerns. For the guidelines for the short story contest, go to https://www.littletokyohs.org.