Thank you for your interest in submitting to the Hal Prize. We accept works of poetry, fiction, nonfiction, and photography. Both beginning and established writers and photographers are welcome to submit.

2023 judges:

Fiction: Toya Wolfe
Nonfiction: Edward McPherson
Poetry: Sean Hill
Photography: Allen Morris

Photography Categories

Analog Alternative Processes
Share your historical process photo: cyanotype, Van Dyke brown, gum bichromate, lumen prints and more. If it’s old school and analog based, it fits this category.

Example work: Christina Z. Anderson, Mary West Quin, Joseph Minek and Eric William Carroll.

Digital Manipulation
Pixels are meant to be pushed around, and a whole new world can be created using digital-manipulation techniques. Show us your composites, collages and all photographs that are digitally augmented.

Example work: Jenna Marti, Josh Passon, Brooke Shaden and Maggie Taylor.

Landscape and Nature
These are the subjects that always surround us. No matter where you go, there is a vista to behold, beautiful plant life to explore or fungi to focus on. This category invites you to share your images of the beauty you find in the natural world.

Example work: Terry Evans, Camden Hardy, Mark Brautigam and Laura McPhee.

People and Portraits
It’s easy to forget that a portrait is just as much about the artist as it is about the subject or sitter. Share your photography of other humans in this category to help us understand who they are and who you are!

Example work: Lois Bielefeld, Kurt Simonson, Richard Renaldi and  Hillerbrand and Magsamen.

Animals
Whether domestic or wild, scaly or furry, slithery or on Hoff, animals have been favorite subjects for the camera lens since the beginning of photo history. Show us the majesty – or whimsy – of the animal kingdom through photos in this category.

Example work: Joel Sartore, Nick Brandt, Mary Lee Agnew and Karine Aigner.

Submission Guidelines

• Fill out the form provided through the submission platform, Zealous. The entrant’s name should not appear on submitted pieces. Works submitted to the Hal Prize for judging should not be submitted to any other publication until after the annual Hal Prize issue is published. We will notify winners two weeks prior to the publication of 8142 Review in November.
• There is no limit to the number of entries you may submit in each category. However, please include just one photo/nonfiction/fiction/poem per submission. Previously unpublished works only, please.
• Fiction and nonfiction should be double spaced, in a simple 12 pt font and no more than 4,000 words. Fiction and nonfiction submissions are preferred as Microsoft Word or .rtf files with only one story per submission. 
• Poetry submissions are preferred as Microsoft Word or .rtf files with only one poem per submission. Poems should not exceed one page in length when typed in a standard 12pt font.
• Photo submissions are preferred as .jpg or .tiff files with only one photo per submission. Photos should be 300 dpi and not exceed 5MB. 
• There is a $10 submission fee.

Any violations of the submission guidelines will result in immediate disqualification of the submission.

Digital entries only. Mailed submissions will not be accepted.

Anyone employed or paid for writing by the Peninsula Pulse or its sister publication Door County Living within the past 12 months is not eligible to enter. Members of the staff or the Board of Directors of Write On, Door County are also not eligible to enter.

Copyright to Winning Works

Copyright reverts to the photographer/poet/author upon publication in the Hal Prize issue. The Peninsula Pulse retains the right to use winning works in promotional materials for future contests. 

More Information

The Hal Prize is presented by the Peninsula Pulse, an independent, locally-owned newspaper covering news, arts, and entertainment in Door County, WI, in collaboration with Write On, Door County, a non-profit organization promoting writing and reading to year-round and seasonal residents in the county, and Peninsula School of Art, an arts organization that offers educational experiences that foster a community dedicated to the transformative power of the visual arts.