Competition
Wave power
In Competition No. 3187 you were asked to provide a sea shanty on a topical theme. This challenge was an…
Mixed messages
In Competition No. 3186 you were invited to supply an acrostic poem praising or dispraising a public figure, in which…
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…
