Sunshine State Teen Lit Awards


Florida has a rich folklore about pirates, buccaneers, swashbucklers, sunken ships, and buried treasure. The 2026 theme for the Sunshine State Book Festival is Celebrating Florida’s Literary History: Pirates to Present Day, so what better short story theme for the Sunshine State Teen Lit Awards than “Pirates?” 

Theme: Pirates!!

Contest Beginning Date- August 15, 2025

Contest Deadline, Last Day of Submission- December 19, 2025

Creative Writing Guidelines:

  •   Write a 500- to 1000-word original story (fiction) using the theme, “Pirates!” You can write about anything pirate-related. Ideas might include traditional pirates of the past, you as pirate captain, or space pirates of the future.
  • No plagiarism or AI generated* material will be accepted.
  • Do not send in a rough draft.
  • May be sent in the body of an email, as a Word document, or as an EDITABLE Google file.
  • Must include:
    • Name
    • Grade
    • School
    • English Teacher


Submit to:

Submit your story before December 19, 2025, by emailing it to
TeenLit@sunshinestatebookfestival.com

Sponsored by: Steve Spurrier’s HBC Foundation

This is the fourth year the Sunshine State Book Festival has partnered with this wonderful organization. We have already given away $3,000 in scholarships. We are looking forward to giving away $1,000 more! 

AWARDS

  • First Place Winner- $500
  • Second Place Winner- $300
  • Third Place Winner- $100
  • Honorable Mentions- $25 each

Awards Ceremony

Saturday, January 24, 2026, at 10 a.m. in the Santa Fe College Fine Arts Building. All of your family and friends are invited to attend the Awards Ceremony. (You do not have to be present to win, but it is encouraged.)

*Definition of AI-generated material: 

If you run your original text/thoughts through an AI generator such as ChatGPT, IBM Granite, DALL-E, etc., and you use the AI-generated text instead of your original text, then the material is considered AI-generated. 

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