Barely South Review is excited to have Annabelle Tometich as our special guest judge for this summer’s Creative Non-Fiction Writing Contest.
Annabelle Tometich went from medical school reject to line cook to journalist to author. She spent 18 years as a food writer and restaurant critic for The News-Press in her hometown of Fort Myers, Florida. Her first book, “The Mango Tree: A Memoir of Fruit, Florida, and Felony” (Little, Brown; April 2024) was called “sweet, sharp” by The New York Times, and was named among the best books of 2024 by The Washington Post and NPR.
Tometich has written for The Washington Post, USA Today, Catapult, and many more outlets. In 2025, she became the first Filipino American author to win the Southern Book Prize for nonfiction. Tometich (still) lives in Fort Myers with her husband, two children, and her ever-fiery Filipina mother.
At Barely South Review, we invite all creative non-fiction that is previously unpublished, original, and under 5,000 words.
This contest is judged blind and identifying information should be scrubbed from your manuscript. Submissions should be 12-point Times New Roman font, double-spaced, with a wordcount on the first page. Please submit only once. Although we understand submitting simultaneously, we appreciate those who do not. All submissions will be considered for publication.
We cannot accept submissions from anyone affiliated with Old Dominion University, past or present.
The winner will receive a prize of $300 dollars and publication in Barely South Review.
Submission period: May 15th – July 31st
BSR acquires only the first serial publication rights of accepted work. Copyright is asserted on behalf of the author; all reprint rights (print or electronic) revert to the author upon publication, but we ask that you mention Barely South Review as first publication appearance.
