May 2008
The 15th Annual Carol A. Bowman Creative Writing Contest for Medical Students
About the judges:
Janeta Tansey, MD, holds an undergraduate degree in philosophy from Creighton University and is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Iowa Department of Religious Studies. She completed her MD at Loyola Stritch School of Medicine and psychiatry residency at the University of Iowa. Dr. Tansey currently works with the Holden Comprehensive Cancer Care Center to provide and improve psychosocial care and serves as director of medical student education in psychiatry. She is a recipient of the 2007-2008 UI Collegiate Teaching Award.
Hugh Ferrer, MFA, is the associate director of the International Writing Program and the fiction editor of the Iowa Review. He holds an undergraduate degree from Princeton University and an MFA from the Iowa Writers’ Workshop. His course, “Readings for Writers,” introduces UI undergraduates to the literary culture of Iowa City.
Sponsored by the UI Carver College of Medicine Program in Biomedical Ethics and Medical Humanities
Co-sponsored by the UI Carver College of Medicine's Writing Program.
Created by Richard Caplan, M.D.
First Prize Winner, $200:
A Numbers Game, by Benjamin Lewis, ’08
Second Prize Winner (tie), $125:
The Position of the Uterus, by Micheil Cannistra, ’11
Judges: “I enjoyed this very much and it ‘stuck with me’ with each re-reading – I think in part because the metaphor is not only original but encased in details that made my re-reading it a little bit richer or nuanced each time.”
Leonard Susskind, by Benjamin Lewis, ’08
Judges: “This poem is beautiful. It evokes time and place and event through a clearly articulated but complex sentiment. It manages to be both moving and philosophical.”
Third Prize Winner, $75:
Fall, by Shandhini Raidoo, ’11
Judges: “Lovely imagery – well-tied themes in each section and overall – wistful, thoughtful. Nicely done.”
Honorable Mention:
It was my rose to pick, by Brent Nichols, ’10
Judges: “The floral imagery intersecting with the medicalized environment and the ambivalence, remorse, and grief of mood and tone are very nice.”
