Kaohsiung Public Library (KPL) and Kaohsiung Literature Library (KLL) have started accepting submissions for the 2022 Kaohsiung Youth Literature Award. Kaohsiung Youth Literature Award has always been a highly-anticipated event for the city's youths, students, and teachers. This is especially evident last year when the event reached a new record for the highest number of works submitted despite the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

The Kaohsiung Youth Literature Award is open to submissions from middle school and high school students and adults. The genres of the submitted works range from modern poetry, prose, short stories, and graphic novels.

This year’s theme, “Components of Imagination'', reflects Kaohsiung's characteristics as an industrial city. In addition, the theme encourages young people to gather all kinds of minuscule components from their daily lives and, through practice and imagination, illustrate the image of the city with words.

The preceding activity of the 2022 Kaohsiung Youth Literature Award also commenced differently from last year. With the concept of "Giving a Literary Gift for Every Student and Teacher" in mind, KPL and KLL are cooperating with Imaginary Friends Literature Club to hold “Components of Imagination: 2022 Kaohsiung Youth Literature Award Weekend Camp”.

This online camp will be held free of charge for a period of eight weeks, from May 7 to June 25. Participants will have the opportunity to learn from both young and seasoned high-profile writers, such as Yi-hsuan Chang (張亦絢), Yu-hsun Chu (朱宥勳), and Hao-wei Sheng (盛浩偉).

While the Kaohsiung Youth Literature Awards itself is meant to be a competitive event, the preceding activity aims to encourage mutual companionship, co-learning, and the spirit of creation. Therefore, in addition to the "Main Classes," the plan also includes lessons in "Reading Exploration, Group Construction, and Consultation of Works."

The camp will be held through the video conference platform "Gather Town" and integrate RPG elements. Participants will attend the activity as their game avatars and will be free to explore the tales within their literary maps. They may choose to hear about the technicalities of the literature awards, the history of Taiwanese literature, or applications of teaching resources in literary education from the "Literary Guide." They may also experiment with the writing techniques of different literary genres with "Writing Warriors." Another unique opportunity is a one-on-one consultation session to discuss their creative works with the speakers, who also serve as camp activities instructors.

High school and university students, and middle school and high school teachers may register to participate in the online camp for free. The registration will be closed on Saturday, April 30, or when the event has reached the maximum number of participants.

Other than holding the “Literary Camp” for high school and university students, the event organizers have also stated that they will also be promoting various literature-related activities for middle school students. These activities involve working alongside the teachers of different schools to design classes that will sharpen the students' reading ability and the skills to write about their hometown.

Those unable to participate in the preceding activities may attend the "Judges’ Panel Discussion." The discussion will be held in November and open to the public. The judges of each category will attend the event and have discussions regarding various creative topics with young writers.

Kaohsiung will also be hosting two national cultural events in August and November. These events, namely the 2022 Creative EXPO Taiwan and 2022 Taiwan Design Expo, mark a fantastic time for the city's rich literature, culture, and bountiful industrial harvest. Hopefully, the two events will broaden the imaginations of creative individuals in the town, encouraging them to unite and create new cultural advancements for Kaohsiung.

Participants may submit their works for the 2022 Kaohsiung Youth Literature Award until Friday, September 9. The award winners will be given total prize money of 310.000 NTD.

Students and teachers who are interested in submitting their works or participating in the literary camp are welcome to head to the official websites of the Kaohsiung Youth Literature Award or Kaohsiung Literature Library for more information.

Kaohsiung Youth Literature Award Website: https://www.ksml.edu.tw/ksylaward/index.html

Kaohsiung Literarure Library Website: http://ksm.ksml.edu.tw/Web_Cht/Home?sn_id=54
 

Registration for the 2022 Kaohsiung Youth Literature Weekend Camp is officially open.

The 2022 Kaohsiung Youth Literature Awards have started accepting submissions.

A look back on the 2020 Kaohsiung Youth Literature Awards activity: Training Workshop for Creative Communities.

Er-yuan Chen was the winner of the first prize of the 19-to-30-year-old group in the category of short stories in the 2021 Kaohsiung Youth Literature Award.

A look back on the 2021 Kaohsiung Youth Literature Awards activity: a face-to-face discussion between two judges of the short stories category (Hao-wei Sheng and Yu-chin Chen).