LONG STORY SHORT Inter-University writing contest inspires meaningful stories f rom both CapU winners MEGAN AMATO Opinions Editor KAHO FURUKAWA Illustrator
“I wanted to make a story that conveyed a strong feeling. When people finish reading it, many [ feel like they are] identified. Not everything in life is pink, and many times we do not understand what others could be going through,” said María José Peña Peña of her inspiration for her short story. “The Love and the Beggar” features a disenfranchised man who nearly gives up hope when three women visit him to remind him of the things he loves in life and motivate him to keep living.
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he Long Story Short Award is a newly-founded writing contest open to university students from participating universities across the world. Two winners are selected by a jury and by public vote for first, second and third place in fiction, creative non-fiction and poetry categories. Peña, who is bunking down in her home country Colombia during the pandemic, won Public Winner for creative non-fiction and was one of two CapU first place winners. Paralegal student Dr. Neelam Batra-Verma was the second Public Winner in the fiction category for her story “The Cycle”.
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