Ladner author and storyteller Laura Thomas is pleased to announce the opening of a new short story contest for youth called Water in Words.

All Delta students in grades 4 through 12 are welcome to submit a short story in prose or verse with a watery theme of no more than 1,000 words between now and Feb. 15.

Unlike Thomas' B.C.-wide Junior Authors Short Story Contest, which has run for three consecutive summers, Water in Words is only open to Delta residents and it has a theme: water.

"This contest is just the first step toward the bigger event I'm planning for World Storytelling Day on March 20," said Thomas. "I don't usually like to put thematic constraints on young writers, but water is the WSD theme for 2011 and the conditions of the grant I received from the Storytellers of Canada stipulate that we use it."

The top 12 writers in the Water in Words short story contest will work with Thomas to transform their written stories to the oral form and then present their stories at a free public event that will be held at the Genesis Theatre on March 20.

When asked what kind of stories she is looking for, Thomas made the following suggestions: "Really you can build water into your story in many ways through the setting, characters or story problem. But what I think works about this theme for kids who live in Delta is that water -- be it Boundary Bay, the Fraser, Sungod pool or the rain in November -- is a huge part of our lives. I think the top stories will embrace that unique aspect of our water-fringed community."

Thomas would also like to acknowledge Amy Massiah-Karwandy, the Grade 12 student from Delta Secondary who won the Water in Words poster design contest. You can see her winning poster at your local school, in shop windows and online.

For complete contest details and to find out how to get a contest poster to hang in your venue, email waterinwords@agentstory.net or visit www.agentstory.net. You can also follow "waterinwords" on Twitter.