The Suffolk Public Library is accepting heroic origin stories for a writing contest that asks children to think of what kind of superhero they want to be. This contest is part of the “Black and Super: African-American History in Comics” event that will take place at Morgan Memorial Library on Feb. 16.

Each story should have between 400 and 800 words, not including the words on non-story pages, such as the title page.

The writing prompt reads: “Write a short story about you and what you would do if you had superpowers. What kind of powers would you have? What is the origin of your powers? What would be your name? Where would your adventures take place?”

“The idea was that anyone can be a superhero, and I wanted to open (that) up to get different viewpoints,” said library associate Cory Bland, organizer for both “Black and Super” and the writing contest. “If they could be a superhero, what would their mindset be?”

Acceptable entries will be from children up to the 12th grade. Only one entry per person will be accepted, and each entry must be written solely by that person, although students are allowed to conference with parents, teachers and peers on their work.

Children of contest judges or library employees are also allowed to participate, but ineligible to win.

Each entry must be typed, and children who cannot type may have their story typed by someone else. Non-English text needs to be translated, and translated text must adhere to the word count. Invented spelling is acceptable, but the meanings of the words need to be clear.

All characters in the stories must be original. Copyrighted names and images will not be accepted.

The deadline for stories and entry forms is midnight on Feb. 10. These stories must include a title page that includes the story’s title and the author’s full name. Stories must be uploaded digitally through the online form on the “Black and Super” event page on the Suffolk Public Library website calendar.

The winners will be announced at the event on Feb. 16, and each winning entry may be read aloud if the author chooses. Each winner will receive a prize bag that includes a graphic novel, a Funko Pop figure and a coloring book.

Visit suffolkpubliclibrary.com or email cbland@suffolkva.us for more information.