2023 OMOT Literary Works

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/2152.5/10112

This collection contains literary works submitted for the 2023 On My Own Time Employee (OMOT) Art Show. OMOT is open to all UT Southwestern employees and students. Literary categories include:

10-Word Story
AI Literature (new for this year)
Creative Non-Fiction
Fictional Short Story
Open Verse Poetry

Authors of winning Literary Art submissions will be invited to read their works aloud at Literary Night at the AT&T Performing Arts Center on Tuesday, October 12, 2023. Winning entries will also be published in a Business Council for the Arts Program.

Questions? Contact omot@utsouthwestern.edu for more information.

News

The following submissions received awards during the literary judging process:

2nd Place, 10-Word Story: Hold On by Deborah "Debbie" Walker
3rd Place, 10-Word Story: Voice Silenced by Dinu Mammen
1st Place, Creative Non-Fiction: Death's Intimate Familiarity by David Doucette
3rd Place, Creative Non-Fiction: Bear in a Bowtie by Jennifer Wang
1st Place, Open Verse Poetry: Only Six by Jennifer Wang
2nd Place, Open Verse Poetry: What If by Talia Collier

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Now showing 1 - 20 of 49

43: Ode to the Original Hoonigan
(2023-08) Wang, Jennifer
As a long-time action sports fan, I was deeply saddened by the death of Ken Block earlier this year. His influence transcended snowboarding and rally car racing, and I wanted to pay homage to him. This was published in The New Verse News
(A)I Made a Promise
(2023-08) Popokh, Benjamin
Written with the feedback and revisions of an AI ChatBot, this piece is a reflection on the promise I made to a brother taken by cancer.
Bear in a Bowtie
(2023-08) Wang, Jennifer
I participated in a 5-day 100-word memoir challenge, and one of the prompts was to write about an item from your childhood. I was stuck until I remembered one of my first stuffed animals and the story behind her name, which may have been an early indication that I never latched onto gender stereotypes. This piece was published earlier this year in Exist Otherwise.
A Blind Perspective
(2023-08) Popokh, Benjamin
Reflections on perspective.
A Boy Who Lived Down the Street
(2023-08) Popokh, Benjamin
Reading about incidents of police brutality against young Black men, I began to remember a childhood neighbor, the son of Nigerian immigrants next door. We played in our backyards every day one year, then his family moved away. I've since forgotten his name, and it dawned on me that every time I see a news item about a young Black man being hurt - it could be that boy I once played with.
Butterflies on Paper
(2023-08) Montes, Edwin
When you have many ideas, they flutter through your mind until finally one lands on paper via your pen.
The Climb
(2023-08) Montes, Edwin
I hiked up the mountaintop and was determined to make it all the way to the top.
Creation of a Path
(2023-08) Popokh, Benjamin
The sidewalks are sporadic, unkempt, and inconsistent where I live. Yet in the grass between the missing concrete, I often notice a path made by years of collaborative footsteps. The idea of creating one's own physical or mental path, with the help of the community, led me to this poem.
Death's Intimate Familiarity
(2023-08) Doucette, David
I am a 20-year veteran of the Emergency room including about 5 years in a Pediatric ER. Also, I am an Army veteran (army recon, not medical). I have seen more death than any one person should but through it all I have made an intentional decision to see the world in a positive lens. There is so much sorrow but if you look, so much beauty and wonderment.
Don't Look at Me
(2023-08) Doig, David
Seeing into the mind of an Alzheimer's patient and wondering what those eyes have seen over the years and not having the ability to talk about their lives.
Emith
(2023-08) Garduno Rapp, Estefanie
I guess the story is merely a reflection of my own life experiences and personal encounters with these technologies. It intertwines my own imperfections and limitations, presenting a relatable almost protagonist craft, driven by an authentic yearning to assist others and contribute to the improvement of our world. For me, the tale is the canvas in which I can explore the possibilities that lie beyond reality's boundaries.
A Fifth of the World
(2023-08) Popokh, Benjamin
When I learned about neural remodeling following limb loss, I immediately grew curious about what other types of remodeling could occur. If one lost all but one of their senses, I wondered, how strong would the connections be to that particular modality? What would a world where individuals only had one sense or a mixture of two to three look like? Smell like? Feel, sound, and taste like?
The Global Water Crisis and Its Impact on Public Health
(2023-08) Popokh, Benjamin
Inspired by national water contamination events, I wrote this piece to explore the broader phenomenon of water-borne illness and its impact on public health.
Grief
(2023-08) Collier, Talia
I wrote this on the one-year anniversary of my father's angel wings. My father liked to write poetry and I told myself I would continue to write in his honor. As I reflected on his life and processed all of my emotions on his anniversary, this poem came to my heart and mind. Many of my friends and family and the world is still grieving from so many changes and losses. It takes time to heal. It isn't an easy journey. Writing is therapeutic for me so I hope this can help heal others who also experience grief and that difficult journey. However, I hope as in the poem we all find peace with this journey and this unavoidable part of life. I want to leave with the reader that there is still hope and the feeling of hope.
Hold On
(2023-08) Walker, Deborah "Debbie"
The inspiration were the human connections and innovations that care providers made in an uncertain world those facing death in isolation when family could not be with them. This is written for those who made sure to hold on to the hands as the ravished body surrendered to infection. Hold on to the love, and to our human spirits between us even during death.
How True Love Feels
(2023-08) Montes, Edwin
It is how I felt when I realized my true love.
How Will I Find You
(2023-08) Doucette, David
I am one of five children in my family. There was a big brother who passed away at birth who I never met. I have often wondered who he would have been and what my family and mostly myself missed out on. We'll never know. Or perhaps one day I will.
It's a C Thing
(2023-08) Collier, Talia
Leaving
(2023-08) Rao, Devika
This piece is an excerpt from a novel in progress, inspired by my grandmother's true story of fleeing Rangoon, Burma, as a young girl during WWII.
A Lesson Hard Learned
(2023-08) Doucette, David
A last parting lesson passed from father to son.

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