Young Southern Student Writers Submissions

Please review our eligibility and submission guidelines. By submitting student work, you affirm your adherence to these rules.

All entries must follow the formatting instructions detailed below. We receive approximately 5,000 entries each year and can’t consider entries that don’t follow these guidelines. We appreciate your help!

We accept K-12 entries in poetry and prose (fiction or nonfiction) until January 31.

File Formatting Instructions

1. Combine student work to create separate files based on grade level and genre category. Remember: Students may only submit one work per genre category. Maximum length for prose submissions is 1,000 words; maximum length for poetry submissions is 50 lines.
2. Include at least 5 student entries in each document (unless you’re a homeschool supervisor).
3. Present the entries using single spaced text in a standard, 12-point font such as Times or Times New Roman. We don’t accept submissions in cursive or decorative fonts, or with illustrations or drawings.
4. Type the following information at the beginning of the document:
   • Teacher or Homeschool Supervisor’s Name:
   • School or Homeschool Program:
   • Grade:
   • Genre Category (Poetry or Prose):
   • Total Number of Submissions:
5. Include the following information after each student entry:
   • Student's Name: 
   • Grade: 
   • School or Home School Program:
   • Teacher or Homeschool Supervisor:
   • Parent’s Email:
6. Save the file as a Microsoft Word or Rich Text Format documents (.doc, .docx, or .rtf). We don’t accept PDFs or Pages documents.
7. When you're sure you've met all eligibility, submission, and formatting guidelines, click the appropriate category and grade range below. Add your Microsoft Word or Rich Text Format document—and your submission is complete!

Submission Links