The ethos of America is defined by its immigrants. Their stories have always been an essential component of the nation's cultural consciousness, from Isaac Bashevis Singer to Jhumpa Lahiri, from Jacob Riis to Maxine Hong Kingston. In novels, short stories, memoirs, and works of journalism, immigrants have shown us what resilience and family devotion we're capable of, and have expanded our sense of what it means to be American. In these times of intense xenophobia, it is more important than ever that these stories reach the broadest possible audience.<p>Candidates must be first-generation residents of the United States. 'First-generation' can refer either to people born in another country who relocated to the U.S., or to American-born residents whose parents were born elsewhere.