The Alexandra L. Rowan Memorial Foundation Writing Competition

2023 Rowan Writing Competition Winners

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

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:

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