Festival of Lights Fest 2021
Hanukkah: the Jewish festival of lights. Eight crazy nights of latkes, dreidels, and presents, right? Well, yes, but Hanukkah is so much more. A chance to reconnect with your heritage. The warmth of candlelight against the cold. A glimmer of light in the darkness of winter.
We’ve created this Hanukkah-themed prompt list to inspire you. Check out works from previous Festival of Lights Fests on our AO3 collection, or submit your own!
PROMPTS
1. Victory against the odds
2. Gambling games
3. Candlelight
4. Oil and/or fried foods
5. Minority cultures or subcultures
6. Strength and resilience
7. Miracle(s)
8. Different people, one nation
RULES & FAQs
Do you have an AO3 collection?
Yes! Our AO3 collection can be found here. The collection is currently open and will remain so.
Do my fanworks have to be explicitly about Hanukkah? What do I do if I’m writing for a secondary world fandom?
Your fanworks can be about Hanukkah or just inspired by it! For example, a couple years ago, our mod Jane-Ways wrote a Silmarillion fic where elves celebrate a holiday similar to Hanukkah, since there’s no Judaism in J.R.R. Tolkien’s history of Middle-earth. She also wrote a series of drabbles inspired by Hanukkah prompts, but not explicitly about Hanukkah. So really, anything goes!
Do I have to be Jewish to make fanworks for Festival of Lights?
No, you don’t need to be Jewish! If you aren’t Jewish but you’d like to, for example, write a fic about Spock and Kirk celebrating Hanukkah together, go for it! But we suggest that if you’re unfamiliar with Jewish culture and/or Hanukkah celebrations, you should check out our Resources page to familiarize yourself.
What types of works and/or fanworks do you accept?
We welcome all sorts of works: fiction, art, playlists, moodboards—whatever our prompts inspire! And there’s no minimum wordcount or effort involved. Both fanworks and original works inspired by the prompts are welcome.
Are there any deadlines?
Nope! The collection is open indefinitely. There aren’t any rules for prompts needing to be posted on a particular day or in any specific order, either.
I previously wrote a piece that I think would work well for this. Can I submit it to the collection?
We welcome any previously unpublished work that’s inspired by or fits thematically with our prompts. If that sounds like your work, we’d love to see it!
