⦾ Waiting for Rowan ⦾ 

Rowan Beckett Minor (they/them) is a Melungeon writer, editor, and activist who utilizes poetry for healing. They have had work featured in numerous international journals and anthologies, including: The Red Branch Review, The Heron’s Nest, Modern Haiku, Frogpond, Blithe Spirit, Mayfly, Red River Book of Haibun (Red River Press), and A New Resonance 12 (Red Moon Press). Rowan is the recipient of multiple awards including, three winning poems in the 2023 Trailblazer Contest, Second Place in the 2024 San Francisco International Competition for Haiku, and Second Place in the 2025 Haiku Society of America's Brady Senryu Contest. They are also honored to have co-judged the Haiku Society of America’s Brady Senryu Contest (2022), as well as to have given presentations for the Haiku North America Conference (2019, 2021). Rowan also worked as a co-instructor for LitYoungstown in 2022, served as the Haiku Society of America Midwest Regional Coordinator in 2024, and is currently a mentor for the HSA's Haiku Social Club. 

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Although Rowan’s is now displaced in Cleveland, Ohio, they are originally from Prince, West Virginia, where their roots run deep. Their (maternal) 2nd great aunt, Edna Mae Berry, was the closing owner of the Prince Brothers General Store, their 4th great grandfather, Tazwell Worley, operated the Beckley Mill until its closure in the early 1900s, and their 5th great grandfather built the Alfred Beckley Wildwood House, now a museum. 

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Rowan has savored and incorporated much of the Appalachian knowledge passed on through their family into their work.