• Curiosita: An insatiably curious approach to life.
• Dimonstratzione: A commitment to test knowledge through experience.
• Sensazione: The continual refinement of the senses, especially sight, as the means to clarify experience.
• Sfumato: A willingness to embrace ambiguity, paradox, and uncertainty.
• Arte/Scienza: The development of the balance between science and art, logic and imagination ("whole-brain thinking").
• Corporalita: The cultivation of ambidexterity, fitness, and poise.
• Connessione: A recognition and appreciation for the connectedness of all things and phenomena; "systems thinking."

The contests are an open submission format, annually for the best collection of poetry, short stories, novel excerpt, or work of literary nonfiction by a new or emerging writer.

Notices of the awards, citing the winner's name and the title and genre of the winning pieces, will be placed in prominent literary periodicals. Each winner will also be cited in an ongoing listing on SFUMATO. The chapbook prizes will be given to the work aligned with each theme by a new or emerging writer, as judged by the magazine's editors and guest judges.

Submissions by new and emerging writers are eligible for the chapbook contests, and we accept submissions year round. For further information, please read our Submission Guidelines.