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English Department • Upcoming Events • Hilda Simmons Levitt Poetry Contest

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. 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.

 

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Judging

This year's judge will be Amy Fleury.

 

A native of rural northeast Kansas, Fleury's work has appeared in American Life in Poetry, Prairie Schooner, Southern Poetry Review, North American Review, The Southeast Review, Laurel Review, 21st and Yalobusha Review. Her second collection of poetry, Sympathetic Magic, is forthcoming from Southern Illinois University Press. Her first collection, Beautiful Trouble, was the winner of the 2003 Crab Orchard Series in Poetry First Book Award. She is Associate Professor of English at McNeeses State University, where she is Coordinator of the MFA program in Creative Writing.

 

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.

 

Awards Celebration

The Awards Celebration will be at 5:30 p.m. April 26, 2012, in the Wagner & Brown Auditorium, Allison Fine Arts Building. Winners will not be notified in advance, and are expected to attend the awards ceremony. Failure to attend may result in loss of awards.

 

Publication

Selected writings from the Hilda Simmons Levitt Poetry 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.

 

Contact

Brendan Egan

Department of English, Midland College

(432) 685-4638 • began@midland.edu

 

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 Department of English • Allison Fine Arts Building

 3600 N. Garfield • Midland, TX • 79705
 Phone: (432) 685-4624

 E-mail: Fine Arts & Communications Division