She was the daughter of Grace Hazard Conkling, a poet in her own right and Assistant Professor of English at Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts.
[3] Most of Hilda's poetry is concerned with nature; sometimes simply descriptive, sometimes mixed with elements of fantasy.
[4] Three collections of Hilda's poetry were published during her life: Poems by a Little Girl (1920, preface by Amy Lowell), Shoes of the Wind (1922), and Silverhorn (1924).
Three of Hilda Conkling's poems—"Evening", "Moonsong", and "Water"—were used as the text for a choral piece called Three Nightsongs Archived 2006-08-23 at the Wayback Machine by American composer Joshua Shank.
"Water", "About My Dreams", "Snow Capped Mountain", and "The White Cloud" have been set to music by American composer J. D. Frizzell.