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:

• • • Shiza Aslam's "The Welling Woman"
    • Courtney Calhoun's "A Maternal Death"
    • Angela Pickering's "The Archives"
    • Tiffany Zhang's "Far"

Readers for Fiction:

• 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:

• • • 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"

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:

• • • Alexandra Bobo's "Constantly Risking Mediocrity"
    • Michelle Garcia's "first-gen gem"
    • Claire Guzik's "Monostich"
    • Alfonso Reyes' "On Privilege"

Readers for Poetry: Jacob Harris, Maria Hiers and Aishwarya Sahi