2026 HMC Poetry Contest
Love, Music, Memory: The Light We Bring
Let Your Words Become Music!
As part of our 2026–27 season, Love, Music, Memory: The Light We Bring, the Huntsville Master Chorale invites poets to submit original work exploring memory, illumination, and the light we offer one another.
The winning poem will become the text for our 10th Annual Choral Composition Contest and will be premiered at our April 23 & 25, 2027 concerts.
Submission Window May 1 – July 31, 2026
Eligibility: Open to residents of Greater Huntsville area.
THE CONTEST
As part of our 2026–27 season, Love, Music, Memory: The Light We Bring, the Huntsville Master Chorale invites poets to contribute original works that explore the deep interplay of memory, meaning, and illumination.
This year’s poetry contest rests within our season’s cradle, The Light We Bring, inviting writers to explore how memory glows within us and how music carries that glow into the world. We seek poems that illuminate the quiet places of the heart — the moments that linger, return, and resound. As these words become song through our annual composition contest, they will join a season devoted to the ways love, music, and memory shape who we are and who we are becoming.
This season’s concerts — Light that Jazz (Fall 2026), Illluminare (December 2027), and Love, Music, Memory, Light: Sing Anything (Spring 2027) — celebrate the ways music carries our stories, restores our hope, and reveals the light we hold within.
The purpose of this poetry contest is twofold: • To highlight and elevate capable poets within our region and • To generate the text that will become the lyrics for our 10th Annual HMC Choral Composition Contest.
The winning poem(s) will be provided to participating composers across the nation as the required text for the HMC Choral Composition Contest. Each composer will set the poem to music. One composition will be selected as the winner and premiered at the April 2027 concerts.
The winning poet will be recognized at our April 2027 concerts, where the newly composed choral work based on their poem will receive its premiere.
ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
All submissions must reflect the Contest Theme.
Contest dates: May 1 – July 31, 2026.
HMC will advertise the contest and link to the Poetry Contest Page on the HMC website. Submissions will be uploaded to an HMC-administered Google Drive folder in .doc or .pdf format.
To enter, use this form. Enter your contact information and upload your submission.
Poems should be suitable for musical setting, using textual rhythm and sonority to complement the message.
Authors are discouraged from overly long texts or from using language that is difficult to speak or sing.
Example of a poem previously set to music can be found on the Poetry Contest page on the website.
Plagiarism, use of copyrighted material, or AI-generated work is prohibited. Authors must be prepared to affirm the originality of their work.
Submit two files of the same poem:
“[Poem Title] – With Author Information”
“[Poem Title] – Anonymous” The anonymous file must contain no identifying information.
POETRY AWARDS
One winning poet will receive a $250 prize. In extraordinary circumstances, the committee may name additional winners or honorable mentions.
JUDGING
A joint committee of the Huntsville Master Chorale will evaluate all submissions. Poems must follow the writing guidelines. To ensure fairness, all judging will be conducted anonymously.
WHO MAY ENTER
Residents of the Greater Huntsville area are eligible to submit:
North Alabama: Madison, Morgan, Limestone, Lawrence, Lauderdale, Colbert, Franklin,
Marshall, Jackson, and DeKalb Southern Middle Tennessee: Lincoln County
Need some inspiration? Check out the work of previous Poetry Contest winner Celeste Shurtz and Composition Contest winner Kestutis Daugirdas, “A Step Outside in the Summer,” now published by Beckenhorst Press!