2026 Contest submission link will be available here June 1!
2026 Seven Hills Literary Contest/
Penumbra Poetry & Haiku Contest
The 2026 Seven Hills Literary/Penumbra Poetry and Haiku Contest (the Contest) will open June 1, 2026. Sponsored annually by the Tallahassee Writers Association, the Contest accepts English-language entries from around the world in the categories described below. You do not have to be a member of TWA to enter, but members enjoy discounted entry fees. All entries submitted during the early-bird period (June 1-July 31) entries receive discounted entry fees.
Eligibility:
The Contest is open to English-language entries from both TWA members and nonmembers around the world. TWA members enjoy discounted entry fees. If you are not a current member, you may join TWA at https://twaonline.org/membership/purchase prior to completing the entry form. You will then be eligible for the discounted entry fees. If you are unsure whether your membership is current, email TWA.information@gmail.com, and we will check your membership status.
Judging: The judging process has three levels. In the first level, entries are vetted to ensure they are eligible (i.e., meet the category criteria and follow the contest rules). Next, a volunteer panel of readers ranks each eligible entry. Finally, scores are averaged and the top entries in each category are sent to the category judge. Judges are professional, published authors in their category. To ensure fairness, all judging is blind; therefore, please remove any personal information that appears on the entry (including headers and footers), and scrub personal information from the document’s metadata (e.g., document properties).
Categories: This year’s categories are Mystery/Suspense Novel Excerpt, Creative Nonfiction, Short Story, Flash Fiction, Prose Poetry, Poetry, and Haiku.
Prizes: Winning entries (first, second, and third place in each category) receive cash prizes and an electronic certificate and are published in the 2027 Seven Hills Review, along with a short author bio. Additionally, first-place winners in each category will receive a complimentary copy of the 2027 Seven Hills Review! The following prizes will be awarded*:
*The Contest Committee reserves the right to withhold prizes in any category at their sole discretion. If no prizes are awarded in a category, all entry fees in that category will be refunded. All decisions of the Seven Hills Contest Committee are final.
Entry Fees: Entry fees are discounted for members of TWA. You must be logged in to your TWA account to receive your member discount. All submissions received between June 1 and July 31 (from members and nonmembers) enjoy an Early Bird discount. Entry fees must be paid at time of entry submission.
Rules for the 2026 Seven Hills Literary/Penumbra Poetry and Haiku Contest
Contest Opens: June 1, 2026. No submissions will be accepted prior to this date.
Early-Bird Deadline: July 31, 2026 at 11:45 PM ET. Reduced entry fees for members and nonmembers.
Final Deadline: October 15, 2026 at 11:45 PM ET. No submissions will be accepted after the deadline.
Writing contests may be an author’s first foray into publication. As such, following the rules helps authors learn the importance of following publishers’ and editors’ submission rules. Please read and heed all the rules for the Contest in general as well as the rules for the specific category(ies) which you are entering. These are RULES. Failure to comply with the rules is cause for disqualification. Entry fees will not be refunded for failure to comply with the rules.
These rules MUST be followed. Submitters who do not follow the rules risk having their entry rejected. If your entry is rejected, you will be notified of the reason(s) for rejection. Entry fees will not be refunded. If you choose to revise and resubmit your entry, a new entry form and entry fee will be required. Please be sure you have followed the rules before submitting your entry. Decisions of the Contest Committee are final.
All submissions must be the original work of the submitter. Do not include copyrighted material (e.g. song lyrics) that is not the property of the submitter.
Works that are created with AI are not eligible. By entering the contest, you certify that no part of your entry was created using AI.
Only unpublished works are eligible. If your work is accepted for publication elsewhere, notify us immediately.
Language: Only English-language entries are accepted.
No adult content will be accepted. Adult content includes, but is not limited to, graphic violence or explicit sexual content (erotica). If you are uncertain whether your entry contains adult content, apply the Motion Picture Association film rating scale: If your entry would garner an NC-17 (“Adults Only: No One 17 and Under Admitted. Clearly adult. Children are not admitted.”) or more restrictive rating, it will be deemed to contain adult content and is NOT eligible for this contest. The determination by the contest committee of whether a submission contains adult content is final.
No identifying information: To ensure blind judging, you must remove any identifying information prior to submitting your entry. This includes the author’s name, address, phone number, email address, website, or other identifying information anywhere in the uploaded entry document. Please check all headers, footers, titles, texts, and metadata prior to submission to ensure no identifying information is included. (You will include this information on the entry form, so it is not needed on the entry itself.)
Formatting: Only PDF and Microsoft Word documents are accepted. Your entry must be a PDF or Microsoft Word (.doc or .docx) file.
All Categories:
- Page size: 8½” x 11” with 1” margins.
- Font: Black Times New Roman font, 12-point type.
- Include the title on the first page. Include the title and page number in the header information on each page after the first page.
- ONLY INCLUDE TEXT. No illustrations (e.g., margin decorations, photos, maps, borders) allowed. No website insertions allowed. No audio or video will be accepted.
- Title the document with the CATEGORY and name of your work (e.g., NOVEL_EXCERPT_Beautiful_Lies). Do NOT include the author’s name or any other identifying information. Note that haikus do not have titles. Your document name will be the CATEGORY and the first line of your Haiku (e.g., HAIKU_Meteor_shower).
Category-Specific Formatting:
- Mystery/Suspense Novel Excerpt, Creative Nonfiction, Short Story, Flash Fiction: Entries must be double-spaced with each paragraph indented (not tab) ½”. No additional return between paragraphs.
- Poetry and Prose Poetry may be either single-spaced or double-spaced. Poetry entries may include an additional return between stanzas.
- Haiku: Entries must be single-spaced.
Category-specific requirements:
- Mystery/Suspense Novel Excerpt: Submit your opening chapters (maximum 5000 words) of a mystery/suspense novel intended for an adult audience. “Adult” does NOT mean erotica. Include a plot synopsis (no more than 150 words) at the beginning of your document. The plot synopsis is ONLY for the judge’s information and does NOT count toward the 5000-word maximum. The synopsis will NOT be published with winning entries.
- Creative Nonfiction: Submit your complete manuscript, maximum 5000 words. Submissions in this category could include (but are not limited to) food and travel writing, personal essays, news journalism, biography, nonfiction stories, and nature writing. The emphasis in creative nonfiction is on factually true yet elegant literary expression.
- Short Story: Submit your complete manuscript, maximum 3500 words. Mixed genres are accepted; however, memoirs are not eligible.
- Flash Fiction: As its name implies, flash fiction presents a complete narrative in very few words. Submit your complete manuscript, any fiction genre, maximum 500 words.
- Poetry: Up to 50 lines, any style or subject. Winning entries’ line length may be edited to fit the final publication format (6” x 9”).
- Prose Poetry: Prose poetry combines the format of prose (written in paragraph form) with the lyrical qualities of poetry. Learn more about prose poetry at https://www.masterclass.com/articles/understanding-prose-poetry. Submit a single prose poem with a maximum of 500 words.
- Haiku: Submit a haiku that evokes the traditional Japanese form: a short poem about a moment in nature or the relationship between nature and humanity, often with a juxtaposition. The three-line, 5-7-5 structure is a guideline but not a requirement.
Submissions:
- By submitting an entry, you agree to all rules and eligibility requirements of the contest; and you agree to have your entry and short bio published in the Seven Hills Review if you are a first, second, or third place winner.
- Only entries submitted through the online contest submissions link will be accepted. The link will be provided on June 1.
- Hard copy submissions, emailed submissions, and submissions received through any method, channel, or platform other than the official online contest submissions link will not be considered or returned.
- TWA is not responsible for lost or late submissions.
- You are welcome to enter as many times as you wish in as many categories as you wish. Each entry requires a separate entry form and entry fee.
- The entry fee must be paid at the time of submission. Entry fees are non-refundable. TWA is not responsible for fees that are not received.
Author Bio: If your submission is selected as a first, second, or third place winner, we will request a short biography (maximum 100 words) that will be printed in the Seven Hills Review.
Notification: Finalists selected by the judges will be notified via email by November 30, 2026; however, the order of finish (first, second, or third place) will not be revealed until the Seven Hills Awards Ceremony during TWA’s December general membership meeting/holiday party. The meeting will be held both virtually and in person on December 10, 2026, at 6:30 p.m. The meeting location is the Marzuq Shrine Center, 1805 N. Monroe St., Tallahassee, FL 32303. Any change to the meeting location will be noted on the TWA website. The link for the virtual meeting will be distributed prior to the meeting to everyone who entered the contest. After the Awards Ceremony, winners’ names, city, and order of finish will be posted on the TWA website at twaonline.org.
All decisions of the Contest Committee are final.