2026 SWA Sponsored Contests
Contest rules and guidelines
Please take the time to read the contest rules and guidelines before submission.
This document includes information about the judging process, cash awards, and how to submit via email if you are unable to access the online submission form.
For questions, please contact our Contest Coordinator.
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Entries must conform with the standard LImerick format, five lines, with lines 1, 2, and 5 rhyming and longer than lines 3 and 4 shorter lines that rhyme. The content should be light and somewhat humorous with a characteristic rhythm.
Entries will be judged on originality, conformity to the standard Limerick format, and its ability to stoke the emotions of the reader.
This contest will be judged by James Fury. Longtime SWA member and contest sponsor Susan Lindsley passed away recently, and this award is in her honor.
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For Excellence in Southern Poetry, a single poem of no fewer than 10 lines and no more than 50 lines addressing the Southeast in some broad way, either through subject matter or through style or through homage.
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Contestants may submit fiction in any genre. Entries must be complete, character-driven manuscripts with a clear beginning, middle, and end, and a satisfying resolution.
Submissions must be no more than 999 words in length, not including the title.
No poetry, slice of life, or vignette. Use standard format: 1” margins, double-spaced, Times New Roman or other readable font, 12 pt.
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The Eye on the Page, LLC contest is a historical fiction genre, with a 1000-word maximum (the title does not count as part of the 1000 words), double-spaced short story. The author may choose any historical era they wish. Although it is fiction, the short story should conform to the era in which the story takes place. There will be two prompts. The first, “upside down,” must be used exactly as noted and must appear somewhere in the story. The second, “As the sun began to rise on the horizon,” may be used with slight variations; however, this phrase must constitute a critical part of the story.
The stories will be judged on grammar, creativity, realism as to the historical era chosen by the author, adherence to the word count, plot, and character development.
Summary feedback will be provided, along with any suggestions or comments regarding the competitiveness of the entry.
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Judged by Amy Faeskorn
Fantastical short fiction is the theme for this year’s Vega Award for Speculative Short Fiction.
Choose any of the fantastical genres, such as science fiction, fantasy, horror, weird, magical, supernatural, superhero, utopian or dystopian, apocalyptic or post-apocalyptic, or alternate history. You may submit a complete manuscript, not to exceed 4,000 words. A short story or flash or stand-alone novel chapters are also accepted.
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This year’s Prompt, sponsored by Amy Wethington, is “Point of No Return.”
Entries can come from any genre of fiction or creative nonfiction. It can be written for any age group and set in any timeline—past, present, or future. It can be self-contained or an excerpt from a larger work.
Constraints: Your entry must involve the following writing prompt: Point of No Return and should not exceed 5,000 words as counted by Word. Use Shunn format: https://www.shunn.net/format/.
Note: in using Shunn format, please omit any personal information to keep your entry anonymous for fair judging.
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The Buzz Bernard Award for Novel also returns this year with a few updates. Submissions are open to novels of any genre, literary or mainstream, excluding science fiction and fantasy. Minimal feedback will be offered.
Contestants must submit the first ten double-spaced pages of the manuscript, along with a one-page synopsis and a one-paragraph elevator pitch
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The Lynn Hesse Crime Fiction Award returns again this year with a themed focus. This year’s theme is “The Apothecary and the Bird.” Submissions must include an apothecary or a general store offering high-quality, exotic, or otherwise unusual goods.
Manuscripts must follow Shunn formatting guidelines (https://www.shunn.net/format/).
Entries must be between 3,000 and 5,000 words, double-spaced, in 12-point Times New Roman font.
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Complete, stand-alone stories of 500 – 2,500 words that express the non-violent good that came from 20th century wars; i.e., friends, careers, letters, love, wisdom, fitness, loyalty, and more.
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The Ron Ferrell Memory Museum Award is new to the 2026 conference. It is a nonfiction diary contest built around the idea that the mind is a Memory Museum — a place where our experiences, thoughts, and stories are collected, preserved, stored, and sometimes returned to display. In this museum, the writer is the curator.
Each year, the contest will feature a different prompt. This year’s prompt is “The Mind is a Scary Place.”
Using the mind as a Memory Museum, writers are invited to reflect as the curator of their own collection. You may step into a particular gallery, or you may simply walk the halls and consider what the museum has taught you. “Scary” does not have to mean horror. It may mean unsettling. Persistent. Illuminating. Even tender. It may describe what startles you when the lights come on.
This is a contest in reflection, not confession. Written as creative nonfiction in a “show don’t tell format,” submissions must be original, unpublished nonfiction between 1,000 and 2,000 words and follow standard manuscript format. Entries will be judged on clarity, depth of reflection, meaningful use of both the Memory Museum metaphor and the prompt, authenticity of voice, adherence to word count, and overall impact to the reader.
Summary feedback will be provided.
Use the Form Below to Submit Your Entry
