NEOMED student among winners in annual poetry competition
Winners of the 43rd annual William Carlos Williams Poetry Competition have been announced.
For the first time in a decade, a student from NEOMED is among the honorees. First-year medical student Sara Khan has been recognized in third place for her poem “Ossified.”
Judges from the Wick Poetry Center at Kent State University evaluated poems submitted by more than 200 students from across the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico to select three winning entries and an honorable mention.
For the first time in the competition’s history, physicians were also invited to submit poems for consideration. 54 entries were received in the physician category.
In addition to a monetary award, the top prize-winning poems will be considered for publication in the Journal of Medical Humanities. They also will be honored in the annual awards ceremony to be held 4-5:30 p.m. Saturday, March 15, in Room 176 of the Samson Pavilion/Health Education Campus, Case Western Reserve University, 9501 Euclid Ave, Cleveland, OH 44106. This event is open to the public as part of the Cleveland Humanities Festival, and we welcome you to join us in celebrating the awardees.
Dr. Diana Farid M.D., M.P.H. will be the featured speaker at this year’s award ceremony. Dr. Farid is a physician, award-winning author, poet and filmmaker. She is a staff physician at the Stanford Vaden Health Center and Clinical Associate Professor in the Stanford Department of Medicine. Her poems have been presented in anthologies, journals, gallery exhibits, and live story telling events, including The Nocturnists. Her poem, “Dear Medicine,” is part of the seminal 2019 report by the National Academy of Medicine, “Taking Action Against Clinician Burnout.” She is an Editorial Board member of the medical humanities journal, The Pharos.
The 43rd annual William Carlos Williams Poetry Competition is sponsored by Northeast Ohio Medical University; Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine Humanities Pathway, Hiram College Center for Literature and Medicine, and Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine co-sponsored the 2025 awards ceremony.
Congratulations to the winners
STUDENT FIRST PLACE
Makeen Yasar, second-year medical student, Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science in Los Angeles, California. Makeen’s poem, “And the doctor said,” is a critique of the health care system, making connections in his journey between the personal and the political.
STUDENT SECOND PLACE
Eillen Martinez, first-year medical student at Columbia University in New York City. Eillen’s poem, “self-portrait by way of erosion,” was written during a time of pain and a search for hope.
STUDENT THIRD PLACE
Sara Khan, first-year medical student at NEOMED. Sara’s poem, “Ossified,” is a reflection on her experience working with cadavers. She describes the evolution of her emotional state and the challenge of understanding empathy’s place in the study of anatomy.
STUDENT HONORABLE MENTION
Anushka Shah, third-year medical student at Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University in Philadelphia. Anushka’s poem, “To my child, if you ever will be,” is a love letter to future motherhood.
PHYSICIAN FIRST PLACE
Megana Dwarakanath, M.D., clinical instructor in the Department of Adolescent Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Her poem, “Pelvic Inlet,” is the first winner in the Physician category for the William Carlos Williams Poetry Competition.
PHYSICAN SECOND PLACE
Sarah Kristin Andersen, M.D., M.Sc., critical care physician in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Dr. Andersen’s poetry explores the intersection between bodies and the natural world, and between the science and mythology of the practice of medicine. Her poem is “Rejection.”
PHYSICIAN THIRD PLACE
Kate Kernan, M.D., assistant professor of critical care medicine at the Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. Dr. Kernan is an attending physician in the pediatric ICU, does genetics research on why some children get sicker than others and writes poems to understand what it all means. Her poem is “Elegy for fullness with a cow.”
PHYSICIAN HONORABLE MENTION
Michael Wynn, D.O., FAAN, neurologist in Corvallis, Oregon. Dr. Wynn has published numerous poems in journals and chapbooks. His poem is “Autumn at the Beach.”