1) To be eligible to enter this Texas Institute of Letters (TIL) literary contest, either the writer must have lived in Texas for at least five consecutive years at some point, or the work's subject matter must substantially concern Texas. Cowritten works are also eligible if at least 50% of the credited authors have lived in Texas for at least five consecutive years at some point.
2) To be eligible, a work must have been published in a print or digital format in 2026. Eligible print publications include books, journals, magazines, and newspapers. Eligible digital publications include refereed/edited publications with an acceptance/rejection policy and online publications of established print magazines or newspapers (e.g. Atlantic Monthly). Digital publications must have a discernible publication date. Posthumous publications are eligible.
3) To be considered, an entry must be the first published version of the work. If a work had its digital publication in one calendar year but appeared in a related print publication dated the subsequent year, the work is eligible for submission only for the latter year.
4) Only one work per writer (including cowrites) may be submitted for this award, though multiple articles under the same byline and with a total not exceeding 10,000 words may be submitted as a single work, as long as those articles are parts of a series or a recurring column. An individual work may be entered in only one writing category of the TIL literary contests.
5) A copy of the submitted short nonfiction must be provided to each of the three judges for this category: Christine Granados, Michael Hurd, and Betty Holland Wiesepape.
6) Each judge's mailing address and preference for receiving physical or digital versions of the work will be provided upon the submission of this form and receipt of $15 entry fee. When sending physical copies of the work, please include a brief note with the name of the TIL award category.
7) Physical submissions must be postmarked no later than January 8, 2027.
8) Contest entrants and their representatives should neither establish contact with contest judges beyond the submission of their work nor discuss the contest with any judge until the winners are announced in March 2027.
9) For more information about the TIL Literary Awards, including winners in more than a dozen categories, please visit www.texasinstituteofletters.org. For questions about this award that are not answered in the guidelines above, please contact info@texasinstituteofletters.org.
Required information in the form below is indicated with a red asterisk (*).