Poetry ContestHilda Simmons Levitt

The Hilda Simmons Levitt Poetry Contest, with more than $1,000 in prize money going to the winning poets, has been called one of the most prestigious in the state.

History

It was established in 1988 by the late Stanley Levitt to honor his wife’s memory, and her love of poetry and Midland College. Hilda Simmons Levitt graduated with honors in journalism from Louisiana State University where she also studied under poet Robert Penn Warren. In 1979, at the age of 62, Mrs. Levitt decided to pursue writing again. For the next seven years, until her death in 1986, she studied creative writing at Midland College.

The contest is now underwritten by Mrs. Levitt’s daughter Carol Schwartz, who lives in Washington, D.C.

 

Eligibility

Any full-time or part-time student registered in English classes at Midland College at any time in the past year is eligible to compete. Eligible students may submit as many as five entries, but no contestant will be awarded more than one prize. Prior Grand Award winners are not eligible.

Format Requirements

Your entry may be disqualified if you fail to follow format requirements listed below on this page.

Entry Deadline

The entry deadline is March 28, 2025

Awards

• Grand Award: $600 and Award Plaque
• Second Place Award: $400 and Award Plaque
• Third Place Award: $200 and Award Plaque
• Fourth Place Award: $100 and Award Plaque
  
  Note: Midland College reserves the right to withhold awards if entries are lacking in quality.

JUDGE

Nathan Xavier Osorio’s debut collection of poetry, Querida, was selected by Shara McCallum as the winner of the 2024 Agnes Lynch Starrett Poetry Prize and published by the University of Pittsburgh Press. He is the author of The Last Town Before the Mojave, selected by Oliver De la Paz as a recipient for the Poetry Society of America’s 2021 Chapbook Fellowship. He received his PhD in Literature from the University of California, Santa Cruz and was a Chancellor’s Postdoctoral Fellow at UC Irvine. His work has also appeared in BOMB, Gulf Coast, The Rumpus, Boston Review, Public Books, and the New Museum of Contemporary Art. His writing and teaching have been supported by fellowships from the Fine Arts Work Center, The Kenyon Review, and Poetry Foundation. He is an Assistant Professor of Creative Writing at Texas Tech University.

Awards Celebration

The Awards Celebration is held each year to recognize contest winners. This year, the awards will be on Thursday, May 1st at 5:00 PM in the Wagner & Brown Auditorium of the Allison Fine Arts Building, on the MC main campus.

Publication

Selected writings from the Hilda Simmons Levitt Contest will be published in Tableau, an annual student publication produced through cooperation of the Departments of English and Journalism and may also appear on the Midland College website. The material published will be selected by the Hilda Simmons Levitt Poetry Contest Committee and approved by the President of Midland College.

Formatting Requirements

Each poem should be submitted on a separate page in a Microsoft Word (doc,docx) document using the following guidelines:

• Use 1” margins on all sides.
• Center the title, capitalizing important letters (follow standard MLA guidelines for titles) one inch from the top of the first page. Do not include your name or any other identifying information.
• Double-space after the title and between stanzas. Otherwise, single-space throughout.
• Place the title and the page number in a header in the top right corner every page.
• Do not include your name anywhere in the entry.
• Your filename should be the title of the entry.
  
  

ENTRIES

Poetry Contest Entry Form

Contestants may enter a maximum of five poems written in any form and any length.

Questions?

Nancy Barnard
(432) 685-4660
nbarnard@midland.edu