Competition
The state we’re in
In Competition No. 3185 you were invited to compose a sonnet called ‘England in 2021’. The challenge was inspired by…
Laughter lines
In Competition No. 3184 you were invited to tell a joke in verse form. This challenge, suggested by a reader…
Adverbial
In Competition No. 3183 you were invited to submit a short story entitled ‘My Year of Living [insert adverb of…
Over to the dark side
In Competition No. 3182 you were invited to rewrite a famous piece of light verse with a dirge-like, hieratic tone…
Naysayers
In Competition No. 3181 you were invited to submit a letter by a publisher rejecting a well-known literary classic. The…
Cautionary tales
In Competition No. 3180 you were invited to submit a Belloc-esque cautionary tale featuring a high-profile public figure. Cautionary Tales…
Singular sonnet
In Competition No. 3179 you were invited to submit a Christmas hit single rewritten as a sonnet. This seasonal challenge…
What the Dickens
In Competition No. 3178 you were invited to submit an extract from a Dickensian novel based around the name of…
Backchat
In Competition No. 3177 you were invited to submit a well-known fictional person’s view of their author. Highlights in a…
To the city
In Competition No. 3176 you were invited to write a poem to a city. This challenge was inspired by both…
A bit previous
In Competition No. 3175 you were invited to submit a prequel to a well-known poem. C. Paul Evans’s opening to…
True to type
In Competition No. 3174 you were invited to write a poem in which each line begins with the letters A…
Hyper deflation
In Competition No. 3173 you were invited to give a fresh twist to a well-known single line of poetry by…
Now We Are Six
In Competition No. 3172 you were invited to submit a poem about the government’s coronavirus messaging. Many of you, nudged…
Economies of scale
In Competition No. 3171, a challenge suggested by a kind reader, you were invited to submit a requiem in verse…
Letter of the law
In Competition No. 3170, a challenge inspired by Shelley’s assertion that ‘poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world’, you…
In my end is my beginning
In Competition No. 3169 you were invited to submit a poem about autumn in which the last letter of each…
The art of saying no
In Competition No. 3168 you were invited to compose a response on the part of a well-known writer to an…
Lead alert
In Competition No. 3167 you were invited to submit a rhymed poem that is leadenly prosaic in tone and content.…
Privates on parade
In Competition No. 3166 you were invited to supply a poem either celebrating or lamenting the cancellation of Philadelphia’s annual…
Between the lines
In Competition No. 3165 you were invited to supply a job reference for a well-known public figure, past or present,…
Cento
In Competition No. 3164 you were invited to submit a poem in which each line comes from a different well-known…
In short
In Competition No. 3163 you were invited to submit well-known poems encapsulated in four lines. Now that the internet has…
Double time
In Competition No. 3162 you were invited to submit double dactyls on stars of popular or classical music. Fans of…
Bout-rimés
In Competition No. 3161 you were invited to supply a sonnet with certain rhyme words to be used in a…
