Focusing on fiction
| • | Mr. Kim's Christmas Eve |
Advertiser Staff
However much we may rush about in preparation for the holidays, there comes a point when we've done all we can, and it's time to sit and enjoy the holiday.
Each year, The Advertiser's Holiday Fiction Contest offers an adjunct to that quiet time: new fiction to read aloud together, or enjoy silently once the kids are tucked up in bed.
Today we offer a children's story meant to be read aloud; tomorrow we'll share a story for grownups.
Our winner in the children's division is "Mr. Kim's Christmas Eve" by Doreen Lowther of 'Ewa Beach, who will receive a check for $100 and the joy of seeing her work in print.
The story's main characters — talking vegetables, if you can believe it — delighted our judges. Features editor Elizabeth Kieszkowski made the first cut of the entries. Final judges were novelist and University of Hawai'i professor Steve Goldsberry, and short-story writer Cedric Yamanaka, who is now at work on his first full-length novel.
"A clever and endearing tale, wonderfully imaginative, uplifting and a delight to read. It's also very funny," commented Goldsberry. Both final judges gave the story their highest marks in this division.
Lowther was born and raised on O'ahu but has traveled extensively. She is an artist, has been married to husband Tom Lowther for 33 years, and has three grown children and three grandchildren. She sent this story to her 5-year-old granddaughter in Connecticut, and it was a way of bridging the miles between them.
"I had so much fun writing it. I hope other kids — as if I'm a kid — enjoy it, too," she said.
