The Alexandra L. Rowan Memorial Foundation Writing Competition
The Alexandra L. Rowan Memorial Foundation Writing Competition is a writing competition held during the summer in acknowledgment of the best fiction, non-fiction and poetry submissions from an undergraduate UH English student.
2023 Rowan Writing Competition
2023 Fiction Winner:
Talia Servin is a senior majoring in English with a concentration in Creative Writing and a Film Studies minor. When she is not devoting her time to classwork, she enjoys drawing, journaling, playing the piano, and making video diaries. Raised in Iowa and away from light pollution, she spent lots of time stargazing and making memories with friends. She likes to incorporate elements of her own life into her writing (for spice), and she is excited to see where her degree takes her!
Read the Winning Fiction Entry, “Every Light, A Life ” by Talia Servin
“The author deftly balances a myriad of tones -- sorrow, humor, banality, profundity -- which reflects the true nature of grief and life itself, not to mention being key to survival. A very fine piece”
–Antonya Nelson, Fiction Judge
Honorable Mentions in Fiction:
- Allison Bomgardner’s “Something Wicked This Way Comes”
- Deborah Jacob’s “Bluebeard’s Gambit”
- Anisah Khan’s “Concealed Affections”
- Joseph Schwalbach’s “Breaking”
Readers for Fiction: Pritha Bhattacharyya, Daniel Kennedy and Biz Rasich
2023 Non-fiction Winner:
Anisah Khan is a Pakistani-American writer born in Houston and raised in Spring, TX. She is a junior majoring in English with minors in Psychology and the interdisciplinary program Law, Values, and Policy. At Glass Mountain, she serves as an associate poetry editor, and like all writers, she was first a dedicated reader. Currently, her research interests lie in post-colonial and South Asian literature. Her art focuses on uniting her American upbringing with her Pakistani roots. Outside the literary world, Anisah explores artistry through performing Viola concertos, acrylic painting, and filling photo albums with Polaroid photos.
Read the Winning Entry “Narrating the Spectrum” by Anisah Khan
"Narrating the Spectrum’ allows us, the readers, to slowly become aware of the situation, seemingly simultaneously as the narrator becomes aware. It begins in mystery—I couldn’t get over how Ibrahim escaped the house out of the window and landed in the bushes—and continues with lots of humor, interesting turns of phrase, and insights. Not only does it chronicle a specific event, but it is also a story about trying to understand what it is to be someone else, which is both impossible and the whole reason we go to art."
–Nick Flynn, Non-fiction Judge
Honorable Mentions in Non-fiction:
- Alissa Boxleitner’s “On Moten’s Blackness”
- Imaan Faisal’s “The Adult Fetus and Its Psychopomp”
- Natalie Nguyen’s “Terminal D is My Favorite Route”
- Isabel Pitts’ “On Delivering Kittens”
Readers for Non-fiction: Aaron Neptune, Adrian Pachuca and Aishwarya Sahi
2023 Poetry Winner:
Raul Rosa is a junior at the University of Houston majoring in English Literature and minoring in Sociology. He is passionate about education and believes in school equity. He enjoys watching movies, reading, and playing video games. He recommends Welcome to the Monkey House by Kurt Vonnegut.
Read the winning entry “Worms” by Raul Rosa
“What strikes me most about ‘Worms,’ is its steady pacing and patience in order to create an alternate reality. This poem does so much of what I love that poetry can do. It connects us to the earth. It uses figurative language, odd metaphor and unlikely associations to do that. I leave the poem imagining a different reality than before I read it. In this case, one in which I have - all this time - been full of little organisms I had no idea were there. And to understand my destiny, I should, quite literally, check my gut. What an odd and excellent poem.”
–francine j. harris, Poetry Judge
Honorable Mentions in Poetry:
- Xavier Daugherty’s “An Iyaric Self Portrait”
- Michelle Garcia's "The Running Stitch"
- Lucas Leger's "burrow of bones"
- Sofia Trousselle’s "hand-me-down
Readers for Non-fiction: Aaron Neptune, Adrian Pachuca and Aishwarya Sahi
Contest Eligibility and Guidelines
Each award is a cash prize of $2000.
Eligibility Requirements: Open to undergraduate students in the English department or Creative Writing program, full or part time, at the University of Houston Main Campus. One entry per genre allowed per student. Enrollment in the English Department must be current at the time of the submission and at the time of the notification of award, i.e you must be enrolled in an English/Creative Writing class the fall semester following the competition. Enrollment verification will be made by the Registrar’s Office.
Submission Guidelines: Work submitted for the Rowan Writing Competition must be the original creative work of the person submitting the entry and must not be published elsewhere.
Submissions that do not follow the formatting guidelines will be disqualified.
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- Fiction (prose): A PDF manuscript (12-point font, 1” margins, single spaced) of no more than 10 pages, containing no more than one fiction entry along with the submission’s title, genre and the PeopleSoft ID number of the writer at the top right; the writer’s name must not appear anywhere on the manuscript. Please see an example FICTION submission here.
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Non-fiction (prose): A PDF manuscript (12-point font, 1” margins, single spaced) of no more than 10 pages, containing no more than one non-fiction entry along with the submission’s title, genre and the PeopleSoft ID number of the writer at the top right; the writer’s name must not appear anywhere on the manuscript. Please see an example NON-FICTION submission here.
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Poetry: A PDF manuscript (12-point font, 1” margins, single spaced) of no more than 5 pages, containing no more than one poem along with the submission’s title, genre and the PeopleSoft ID number of the writer at the top right; the writer’s name must not appear anywhere on the manuscript. Please see an example POETRY submission here.
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Submitting Your Work: Submit a single PDF file for the genre of your choosing by using the form below. One entry per genre allowed per student. (To clarify, students can submit a poem, an essay and a story for a total of 3 submissions each in a distinct genre. However a student cannot submit two or more poems, essays or stories.)
Name your PDF document using your PeopleSoft ID number and genre. (Example: 1234567.POETRY.pdf) Remember, the writer’s name must not appear anywhere on the manuscript, including the document title.
ROWAN WRITING COMPETITION 2024 SUBMISSION FORM
Judging Process: The Rowan Writing Competition submissions, manuscripts only, will be read by a panel of graduate students from the University’s Creative Writing Program. The winning entry and honorable mentions will be determined by select faculty in the English Department.
Notification of Winning Entries: Only the winning entries will be notified via email. The winner and three honorable mentions for each genre will be announced. Winners and honorable mentions will be notified using the email address they used to submit their entry.
Within 48 hours after being notified of the award, winners must be able to submit an electronic copy of the manuscript as a Word Document along with a 100-word bio, author photo and photo release authorization form.
The deadline for all three genres is October 15th, 2024.
Winners and Honorable Mentions will be announced spring 2025.
Any questions please direct them to RowanUHCWP@gmail.com
2022 Rowan Writing Competition Winners
2022 Fiction Winner:
Nicholai Caterina is a sophomore at the University of Houston, majoring in English-Creative Writing. He is an associate editor for UH's literary magazine, Glass Mountain. Born in New Jersey and raised near Galveston, he is a fan of gastropods, good soup, and the 76ers. He is excited to continue pursuing his degree.
Read the Winning Fiction Entry, “Seawolf’s Garden” by Nicholai Caterina
“It is a beautifully written poetic piece about the relationship of a couple that lasts beyond the woman's death, about the love that the man expresses by watering his wife's garden after she is gone. The images were wonderful and gave the reader powerful flashes of insight into the characters and their backstory. Great images and poetic rhythm.”
–Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni, Fiction Judge
Honorable Mentions in Fiction:
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- Shiza Aslam's "The Welling Woman"
- Courtney Calhoun's "A Maternal Death"
- Angela Pickering's "The Archives"
- Tiffany Zhang's "Far"
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- Pritha Bhattacharyya, Katerina Ivanov and Aaron Neptune
2022 Non-fiction Winner:
Binh Tang is an English-Creative Writing senior at the University of Houston with a minor in Film Studies. He was born and raised in Vietnam and moved to Houston as an international student in 2016. Growing up in an environment where the phantom of war still torments people, he spends most of his time writing and reading stories about socioeconomic and human development disparities. As a writer, he believes in the power of language and its unexpectedness when challenged. He likes to experiment with forms and structures. He is especially interested in classical studies. When not writing or reading, he can be found feeding squirrels on campus while listening to music by under-recognized female classical composers.
Read the Winning Entry “The Painting of My Brother” by Binh Tang
“Drawing on a memory from childhood, ‘The Painting of My Brother’ describes a family, a moment of hardship solidified by realization, and the appreciation for a shade tree. The child watches the mother and sees her quiet determination of continuing on, taking note, and offering council. The tree sees, and dies, while a painting we never see becomes this essay. Artful writing in the best way possible.”
–Audrey Colombe, Non-fiction Judge
Honorable Mentions in Non-fiction:
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- Nicholai Caterina's "Coffeemaker"
- Claire Guzik's "The Space in Blank Verse"
- Jeremy Johnson's "When Rivers Run Below Oceans"
- Naveera Majid's "Magical Realism in Haroun and the Sea of Stories"
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Readers for Non-fiction: Jacob Harris, Maria Hiers and Aishwarya Sahi
2022 Poetry Winner:
Nicholai Caterina is a sophomore at the University of Houston, majoring in English-Creative Writing. He is an associate editor for UH's literary magazine, Glass Mountain. Born in New Jersey and raised near Galveston, he is a fan of gastropods, good soup, and the 76ers. He is excited to continue pursuing his degree.
Read the winning entry “Gervinesque” by Nicholai Caterina
“The poem ‘Gervinesque’ has such surprise and grit and intensity and particularity in its narrative and imagery, such expert compression in its storytelling, it just knocked me out. The depth of feeling here is beautifully palpable, genuinely moving, because this writer cannily resists including any kind of cheapening sentimentality or summarizing flourishes.”
–Erin Belieu, Poetry Judge
Honorable Mentions in Poetry:
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- Alexandra Bobo's "Constantly Risking Mediocrity"
- Michelle Garcia's "first-gen gem"
- Claire Guzik's "Monostich"
- Alfonso Reyes' "On Privilege"
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Readers for Poetry: Jacob Harris, Maria Hiers and Aishwarya Sahi
2021 Rowan Writing Competition Winners
2021 Fiction Winner:
Rana Mohamad is a senior at the University of Houston, majoring in English Creative Writing with a minor in History. As a writer, she believes that through storytelling, a writer can live many lives and explore a variety of questions, all indicative of the human condition. She is especially interested in lyrical fiction and migrant narratives. Rana plans on pursuing an MFA in Creative Writing and publishing short stories, poems and memoirs.
Read the Winning Fiction Entry, “The Tiger in the Bathtub” by Rana Mohamad
Honorable Mentions in Fiction:
- Kaunain Khan’s “August Blues”
- Jack Morillo’s “Alyssa Linatto is Throwing Up”
- Jacob Myers’ “The Gates of Greymoore”
2021 Non-fiction Winner:
Shireen Hasan, an aspiring writer/poet, was born in Iraq but raised in Texas. She has been living in the United States for over 11 years now. She loves to write multiple genres. Growing up as a Yazidi, a religious minority in Iraq, she is able to understand more about her culture and connect to the cultures surrounding her through her writings. Writing is music to her in more ways than even she has come to know. It is something she continues to use to express herself and understand the world around her. She would rather the ink speak for her, for it has more to say.
Read the Winning Entry “The lost souls of Shingal” by Shireen Hasan
Honorable Mentions in Non-fiction:
- Alexis Arteaga’s “Three Things (Love in the Time of Corona)”
- Gavin Caterina’s “The Ladybug of the Bronx”
- Mike Clarks’ “Baldwin the Bull”
Judges for Non-fiction: Kartika Budhwar, Weijia Pan, Theodora Ziolkowski and Roberto Tejada
2021 Poetry Winner:
Gavin Caterina is a freshman at University of Houston, who intends to major in English. He enjoys reading fiction and playing soccer with his family. On book recommendations, he offers up "Spring Snow" by Yukio Mishima. He wishes to enter the creative writing concentration in the fall.
Read the Winning Entry, “Heart-Shaped Poem” by Gavin Caterina
Honorable Mentions in Poetry:
- Michelle Garcia’s “El Hombre de la Casa”
- Jack Morillo’s “Tapos / Tapos”
- Alfonso Reyes’ “Ghazal Concerning Self-Preservation”
Judges for Poetry: Kartika Budhwar, Weijia Pan, Theodora Ziolkowski and Michael Snediker
2020 Rowan Writing Competition Winners
2020 Fiction Winner:
Truth Thomas-Alexander is a senior at the University of Houston and majors in Creative Writing and minors in Studio Art. Her concentration is fiction and she enjoys writing short stories. She plans on pursuing an MFA in Creative Writing after she completes her Bachelor's degree.
Read the Winning Fiction Entry, “invalidation” by Truth Thomas-Alexander
Honorable Mentions in Fiction:
- Josh Cornelius’ “The Correction”
- Zachary Eaton’s “The Liar”
- Piper Gourley’s “Are You Dreaming, Billie?”
2020 Non-fiction Winner:
Zachary Eaton is an English - Creative Writing student at the University of Houston who hopes to graduate (at last) in summer 2021. He writes fiction, poetry, and creative nonfiction. He co-wrote the screenplay "Cardinal" with writer/director James Frank. He enjoys watching sports, procrastinating, and rereading the same short story collections over and over again. He's worked at Dominos Pizza, Target, Barnes and Noble, as a server, and as a cashier. He knows you shouldn't start all your sentences with the same pronoun, but feels the 100-word bio format doesn't leave room for much else. He recommends "The Student" by Anton Chekhov.
Read the Winning Entry “The Opera Singer” by Zachary Eaton
Honorable Mentions in Non-fiction:
- Alicia Alcantara’s “The Man Downstairs”
- Claire Guzik’s “Tragic Nothingness”
- Naveera Majid’s “Magical Realism and Contradiction in The Hummingbird’s Daughter”
2020 Poetry Winner:
Matthew Flores is a senior at UH and originally from south Texas. He works as a delivery driver and also assists with humanitarian aid for migrants at the South Texas Human Rights Center in Falfurrias, Texas. He plans to attend an MFA or interdisciplinary PhD program next year in the fall.
Read the Winning Entry, “Reading Paz at the Cemetery” by Matthew Flores
Honorable Mentions in Poetry:
- Claire Guzik’s “Stones”
- Alyssa Holt’s “God and Mammoths”
- Kristin Powell’s “Spinach”