Writing Program

The 16th Annual Carol A. Bowman Creative Writing Contest, 2009

The results from this year's contest are now available!

Established by Richard Caplan, M.D

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.

Entries will be judged by Jan Weissmiller, MFA; and Scott Temple, PhD

Jan Weissmiller holds an MFA from the University of Iowa Writers’ Workshop. She won the Loess Hills Poetry Award for her collection In Divided Light, published by Loess Hills Press. She also co-edited, with Jerry Harp, A Poetry Criticism Reader, published in 2006 by The University of Iowa Press. Jan is co-owner of Prairie Lights Books, where she is poetry buyer and coordinator of the poetry readings for WSUI’s Live From Prairie Lights.

Scott Temple, PhD, is a clinical psychologist and a clinical professor of psychiatry at the University of Iowa, where he has conducted research into psychotherapy for psychosis and for severe mood disorders. He currently directs a training program for mental health clinicians working with depressed youth. Dr. Temple has completed coursework in the University of Iowa Nonfiction Writing Program. He is a fiction and non-fiction writer, whose work recently appeared in The Best of the Bellevue Literary Review.

Deadline: *5:00 p.m. Tuesday, March 24, 2009.*

Open to University of Iowa medical students.

Submit entries to: david-etler@uiowa.edu or margaret-lemay-lewis@uiowa.edu

See Previous Years' entries and results: 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009

A Message from Dr. Richard Caplan, M.D.

I established the Carol A. Bowman Creative Writing Contest after the death of Dr. Bowman, who had just received her Ph.D. from the University of Iowa in Medical Humanities, although for several years I had been sponsor of such an effort in cooperation with Vital Signs. The purpose was to encourage medical students to reflect on their new experiences in the world of medicine and to encourage the process and discipline of putting words on paper effectively, and to enjoy the satisfactions of creative effort.

The Program in Biomedical Ethics and Medical Humanities in conjunction with the Writing Program is pleased to announce this creative writing contest for medical students. Entries may be of any length or literary genre (fiction, essay, poetry, drama, memoir). The purpose of the contest is to stimulate student writing and thoughtful expression of the many and new experiences students encounter while in medical school.

2009 Prizes

• 1st: $200
• 2nd: $125
• 3rd: $75

The winning submissions will be published with author approval to be distributed (gratis) within this medical center and beyond. Entries may be published with the author's permission on our website.

Copies of winning submissions from prior contests are available from the links above. Submissions may be made at any time to the Writing Program, 1191 MERF, or via email to david-etler@uiowa.edu or margaret-lemay-lewis@uiowa.edu before the submission deadline of 5:00 p.m. Tuesday , March 24, 2009. Only students of the UI Carver College of Medicine are eligible to enter this contest.

Winners will be announced by the fourth week of April, 2009.

Questions? Visit, email, or call Dave Etler at 335-8058, 1191 MERF.

Carol Bowman received a Ph.D. from the University of Iowa in the Medical Humanities in May 1992. Soon after, she was found to have a malignancy from which she died in July 1993 after a valiant, difficult struggle. She had been a successful writer herself, a counselor regarding substance abuse, as well as an enthusiastic teacher of high school and medical students. This contest is meant as a memorial to her concern for the humane treatment of patients and students.

Roy J. and Lucille A. Carver College of Medicine
Writing Program
1193 MERF
Iowa City, Iowa 52242-2600
(319) 335-8058 | Staff directory