Competition
Season’s greetings
In Competition No. 3028 you were invited to submit lines for a Christmas card courtesy of well-known poets. Poets moved…
Shipping lines
In Competition No. 3027 you were invited to submit a poem inspired by the Shipping Forecast. Life-saver, lullaby, poetic…
Double dactylic
In Competition No. 3026 you were invited to submit topical double dactyls. The double dactyl was dreamed up in…
Let us pray
In Competition No. 3025 you were invited to submit a Lord’s Prayer for the 21st century. One of my…
Brown studies
In Competition No. 3024 you were invited to submit a short story in the style of Dan Brown. This comp,…
Mixing it
In Competition No. 3023 you were invited to submit cringeworthy portmanteau words. The word portmanteau was first used in this…
A poem for Boris
In Competition No. 3022 you were invited to compose a safe poem that Boris Johnson could have on hand to…
Northern frights
In Competition No. 3021 you were invited to compose terrifying lullabies. Lorca wondered why ‘Spain reserved the most potent songs…
Marriage guidance
In Competition No. 3020 you were invited to submit the formula for a successful marriage courtesy of a well-known husband…
Officially amazing
In Competition No. 3019 you were invited to submit a limerick describing a feat worthy of inclusion in Guinness World…
Get a life
In Competition No. 3018 you were invited to take your lead from Meik Wiking — CEO at the Happiness Research…
On the house
In Competition No. 3017 you were invited to submit a sonnet containing household tips. You were on sparkling form…
Diary stories
In Competition No. 3016 you were invited to submit an extract from the diary of the spouse of a high-profile…
Watching the clock
In Competition No. 3015 you were invited to submit a poem about Big Ben’s bongs. The decision to remove…
From me to you
In Competition No. 3014 you were invited to submit a love poem written by one contemporary politician to another. …
Flavour of the month
In Competition No. 3013 you were invited to submit a poem in praise or dispraise of August. There was…
Reprogramming
In Competition No. 3012 you were invited to change a letter in the title of a well-known play and submit…
Bowing and scraping
In Competition No. 3011 you were invited to submit a disgustingly flattering poem in heroic couplets in praise of a…
Monster mash-up
In Competition No. 3010, a nod to the late, great George Romero, you were invited to provide an extract from…
Quotidian
In Competition No. 3009 you were invited to submit a poem about a domestic object. I set this challenge…
New beginnings
In Competition No. 3008 you were invited to take the last line of a well-known novel and make it the…
Cat call
In Competition No. 3007 you were invited to submit a poem about Larry, the Downing Street cat. Larry came to…
Laughing matter
In Competition No. 3006 you were invited to submit a sonnet that takes as its opening line Keats’s ‘Why did…
Brought to book
In Competition No. 3005 you were invited to take your inspiration from Anthony Lane’s terrific ‘The Book of Jeremy Corbyn’,…
What Alice did next
In Competition No. 3004 you were invited to submit an extract from Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Trumpland. As I was…
