2027 Festival

At UT Martin April 1-3, 2027

the competition

Find out who placed in our 2026 SLF Undergraduate Writing Competition

membership benefits

Join us for the 2027 Southern Literary Festival

The Southern Literary Festival Association is a consortium of Southern colleges & universities.
Each spring, students & faculty from these schools gather at The Southern Literary Festival.
The SLF celebrates undergraduate creative writing & features an annual writing competition.
To help students hone their craft, there are workshops & readings by established Southern writers.
Readings are given by students whose work was selected for the annually-produced festival anthology.
We value the talent & potential of undergraduate writers.
We recognize the necessity of community to the growth of all writers.
We believe in the importance of Southern writing to culture & identity.
The Southern Literary Festival Association is a consortium of Southern colleges & universities.
Each spring, students & faculty from these schools gather at The Southern Literary Festival.
The SLF celebrates undergraduate creative writing & features an annual writing competition.
To help students hone their craft, established Southern writers lead workshops & give readings.
Students whose work was selected for the annually-produced festival anthology also give readings.
We value the talent & potential of undergraduate writers.
We recognize the necessity of community to the growth of all writers.
We believe in the importance of Southern writing to culture & identity.

2027 Host School

The 2027 Southern Literary Festival will take place Thursday, April 1 through Saturday, April 3, 2027 on the campus of the University of Tennessee at Martin in Martin, TN.
MORE INFORMATION ABOUT UTM >>

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Coming soon!

Become a Member School Today!

Registering your institution for membership in the Southern Literary Festival Association first and foremost benefits your students. When you join the association, you’ll be able to submit to our competition and anthology in the Fall and attend our conference with your students in the Spring.
JOIN >>
PAY DUES >>

THE COMPETITION

The Competition recognizes excellent work produced by undergraduate students at member schools. Winners will be published in the 2027 SLFA Anthology and present their work at the 2027 Southern Literary Festival, April 1-3, hosted by UT Martin.
ELIGIBILITY & GUIDELINES COMING SOON >>

2026 SLF competition results

We're pleased to announce the winners of the Undergraduate Writing Competition for the 2025-2026 festival year! Students read their winning work at the Festival in April 2026 at UT Chattanooga. They were published in the print anthology, available at the Festival and in digital format at the link below.
ANNOUNCEMENT>>
DOWNLOAD THE ANTHOLOGY>>