Gray matter
In Competition No. 2938, to mark the tercentenary of Thomas Gray’s birth, you were invited to submit an ‘Elegy on…
For their eyes only
In Competition No. 2937 you were invited to submit extracts from the diaries of the famous that their writers did…
Country music
In Competition No. 2936 you were invited to propose lyrics for a new British national anthem. Tom Shakespeare recently suggested…
Valentine’s triolet
In Competition No. 2935 you were invited to submit a Valentine’s triolet. A famous example of the triolet is Frances…
Now we are rich
In Competition No. 2934 you were invited to submit a poem suitable for inclusion in Now We are Rich. You…
Woe is me
In Competition No. 2933 you were invited to submit a blurb for a misery memoir. Thanks to Tom Dulake for…
Doublespeak
In Competition No. 2932 you were invited to submit up to 16 lines of verse that are the fruit of…
Going mental
In Competition No. 2931 you were invited to submit a psychiatric report on a well-known figure in literature. Shakespearean characters…
Macaronic
In Competition No. 2930 you were invited to submit up to 16 lines of macaronic verse. A dictionary of poetic…
Nostradamus
In Competition No. 2929 you were invited to submit an acrostic poem containing some predictions for the next decade, in…
No thanks
In Competition No. 2928 you were invited to submit a thank-you letter for a particularly unenjoyable Christmas visit to relatives…
A Christmas carol
In Competition No. 2927 you were invited to submit a Christmas carol written in the style of a writer of…
Railway rhythms
In Competition No. 2926 you were invited to submit a poem about HS2. The idea for this challenge came to…
The Winter’s Tale
In Competition No. 2925 you were invited to submit a short story entitled ‘The Winter’s Tale’. There were lots of…
Bad sex award
In Competition No. 2924 you were invited to submit a ‘love scene’ from a novel that dampens rather than boosts…
Martian poetry
In Competition No. 2923 you were invited to describe an everyday object, in verse, from the point of view of…
Fashion
In Competition No. 2922 you were invited to invent new garments and provide definitions. Thanks to the reader who, inspired…
Fictihew
In Competition No. 2921 you were invited to write a clerihew about a fictional character. The clerihew is a comic…
Rocker to writer
In Competition No. 2920 you were invited to submit an extract from a novel written by a rock star of…
Change of direction
In Competition No. 2919 you were invited to write a poem that begins with the first line or two lines…
Threesome
In Competition No. 2918 you were invited to submit a poem composed entirely of three-letter words. ‘This is the most…
Right to reply
In Competition No. 2917 you were invited to submit a reply from Andrew Marvell’s coy mistress. Marvell’s mix of cajoling…
Rebranded classics
In Competition No. 2916 you were invited to recast a well-known scene from literature to reflect the fact that its…
Arty limericks
In Competition No. 2915 you were invited to submit limericks featuring a well-known artist and a destination of your choice.…
Bennboozled
In Competition No. 2914 — which was inspired by a speech given by the late Sir Keith Joseph in which…
