Each year, Simbaa and the Department of Languages and Literature sponsor the Poet Laureate Contest and the Guy A. Sims Short Fiction Competition. Entries are read and judged by faculty at Lincoln and at other colleges and universities. The top three award-winners in both contests will receive a certificate of merit, a cash prize, and see their work published in the magazine. If they so desire, students can enter both contests.
This is one of Lincoln’s longest-running literary competitions, dating back to 1971, when the first poet laureate was named, Momo J.K. Rogers. In addition to the aforementioned laurels, the winner will be crowned Poet Laureate of Lincoln University for the upcoming academic year. The official title obligates the student to compose and recite poems at specific university events and functions.
Started in 2015 by writer and Lincoln alumnus Guy A. Sims (co-creator of the seminal Brotherman comic book series), this competition began as a way for students to tell vivid and engaging stories about their experience at Lincoln University. While the judges still like to read stories set on Lincoln’s campus, the college does not have to function as either the story’s setting or its source of inspiration.
