The first Litfest was held in Spring 2003 which was also the Writers' House first year. Litfest is one of many projects that Writers' House has initiated over the years to recognize and support the undergraduate literary community at University of Maryland.
The Jiménez-Porter Literary Prize is an annual writing contest open to all University of Maryland undergraduates. The Prize is going into its ninth year, and is administered by staff at the Jiménez-Porter Writers' House. Judges read the manuscripts after names of authors have been removed, to preserve anonymity. Notable judges in years past have included Fady Joudah, Terese Svoboda, Rod Jellema, and Antonya Nelson.
The winners of the 2011 Jiménez-Porter Literary Prize:
Prose Awards
- First Place: Laura Pavlo for her story “Ellipsis”
- Second Place: Shira Levenson for her story “The Diner”
- Third Place: Emily Zido for her story “Jumping Man”
Poetry Awards
- First Place: Lyons George for his poem “I Thought of Your Body”
- Second Place: Brendan Edward Kennedy for his poem “I am carved there”
- Third Place: Ned Prutzer for his poem “Listening to In Through the Out Door”
The deadline for Litfest submissions is February 15, 2012.