Competition
Initial embarrassment
In Competition No. 3262, you were invited to submit a poem on behalf of Rishi Sunak or Liz Truss in…
Watch this space
In Competition No. 3261, you were invited to submit a poem about the James Webb Space Telescope. The first dazzling…
Hidden agenda
In Competition No. 3260, a challenge suggested by a reader, you were invited to reveal the existence of a hitherto…
County lines
In Competition No. 3259, you were invited to submit a poem entitled ‘A(n) [insert county of your choice] Lad’. There…
Storybook holiday
In Competition No. 3258, you were invited to submit a postcard sent while on holiday in a well-known fictional destination…
Filmericks
In Competition No. 3257, you were invited to summarise a film in limerick form. A nod to Ezra Haber Glenn,…
Prosaic
In Competition No. 3256, you were invited to take a well-known poem and recast it as a short story. Ben…
Measure for measure
In Competition No. 3255, you were invited to submit a poem about imperial measures. Brian Bilston’s terrific poem ‘The Empire’s…
Hard times
In Competition No. 3254, you were invited to tweak a well-known book title to reflect the straitened times we live…
Me time
In Competition No. 3253, you were invited to write a poem entitled ‘Song of Myself’ in the style of the…
Sorry effort
In Competition No. 3252, you were invited to write a letter of condolence on the mis-fortune of an acquaintance which,…
Going platinum
In Competition No. 3251, you were invited to submit a poem to mark the Queen’s platinum jubilee in the style…
On the money
In Competition No. 3250, you were invited to submit a sonnet to Mammon. It was ‘Epigram for Wall Street’, attributed…
A fine romance
In Competition No. 3249, you were invited to submit an extract from a Mills & Boon novel whose central character…
Where there’s a will
In Competition No. 3248, you were asked to submit the last will and testament of a fictional character. In a…
The road not taken
In Competition No. 3247, you were asked to submit the reflections of a well-known writer on a career path they…
Let’s get physical
In Competition No. 3246, you were invited to submit a poem in the style of the poet of your choice…
French connection
In Competition No. 3245, you were asked to take a passage from a classic of French literature and recast it…
Worse verse
In Competition No. 3244, you were invited to submit a poem to mark St George’s Day that rivals in awfulness…
Lost and found
In Competition No. 3243, you were invited to submit a poem about the recent discovery of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance.…
Cli-Fi plus
In Competition No. 3242, you were asked to submit a short story that is a mash-up of cli-fi with a…
Vernal
In Competition No. 3241, you were invited to submit a spring triolet. Banjo Paterson, the bard of the bush, had…
A life in limericks
In Competition No. 3240, you were invited to tell the life story of a well-known figure in three limericks. In…
Bookish
In Competition No. 3239, you were invited to submit political manifestos inspired by literary heroes. Sajid Javid loves Ayn Rand:…
Fighting talk
In Competition No. 3238, you were invited to submit a poem about a literary feud. Wallace Stevens’s 1936 fisticuffs with…
