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”