Competition
‘Poundland and Prejudice’: book titles tweaked for straitened times
In Competition No. 3254, you were invited to tweak a well-known book title to reflect the straitened times we live…
Spectator competition winners: What was Edgar Allen Poe created for?
In Competition No. 3253, you were invited to write a poem entitled ‘Song of Myself’ in the style of the…
Spectator competition winners: how not to write a letter of condolence
In Competition No. 3252, you were invited to write a letter of condolence on the mis-fortune of an acquaintance which,…
Spectator competition winners: Platinum Jubilee poems from Kipling and A.A. Milne
In Competition No. 3251, you were invited to submit a poem to mark the Queen’s platinum jubilee in the style…
Spectator competition winners: sonnets on Mammon
In Competition No. 3250, you were invited to submit a sonnet to Mammon. It was ‘Epigram for Wall Street’, attributed…
Jacob Rees-Mogg does Mills & Boon
In Competition No. 3249, you were invited to submit an extract from a Mills & Boon novel whose central character…
Spectator competition winners: The last will and testament of Gollum
In Competition No. 3248, you were asked to submit the last will and testament of a fictional character. In a…
Spectator competition winners: If Alan Bennett had been a spy
In Competition No. 3247, you were asked to submit the reflections of a well-known writer on a career path they…
Spectator competition winners: poets bemoan a problematic appendage
In Competition No. 3246, you were invited to submit a poem in the style of the poet of your choice…
Spectator competition winners: Let’s parler Franglais
In Competition No. 3245, you were asked to take a passage from a classic of French literature and recast it…
Spectator competition winners: poems for St George in Bono-metrics
In Competition No. 3244, you were invited to submit a poem to mark St George’s Day that rivals in awfulness…
Spectator competition: poems about Shackleton’s Endurance
In Competition No. 3243, you were invited to submit a poem about the recent discovery of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s Endurance.…
Spectator competition winners: The polar bear who came to tea
In Competition No. 3242, you were asked to submit a short story that is a mash-up of cli-fi with a…
Spectator competition winners: spring triolets
In Competition No. 3241, you were invited to submit a spring triolet. Banjo Paterson, the bard of the bush, had…
Spectator competition winners: lives in three limericks
In Competition No. 3240, you were invited to tell the life story of a well-known figure in three limericks. In…
Spectator competition winners: political manifestos inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien and Lewis Carroll
In Competition No. 3239, you were invited to submit political manifestos inspired by literary heroes. Sajid Javid loves Ayn Rand:…
Spectator competition winners: poems about literary feuds
In Competition No. 3238, you were invited to submit a poem about a literary feud. Wallace Stevens’s 1936 fisticuffs with…
Spectator competition winners: Monosyllabic short stories
In Competition No. 3237, you were invited to submit a short story using words of only one syllable. This challenge…
Spectator competitions winners: ‘O, my love is like…’
In Competition No. 3236, you were invited to submit a poem that begins ‘Oh my love is like…’ . From…
Spectator competition winners: Gulliver’s Day Out and other literary prequels
In Competition No. 3235, you were invited to invent a prequel to a well-known work of literature and supply an…
Spectator competition winners: Covid’s metamorphoses
In Competition No. 3234, you were invited to submit either a poem or a short story entitled ‘Covid’s metamorphoses’. Thanks…
Spectator competition winners: meet the new Mr Men
In Competition No. 3233, you were invited to invent a new character for the Mr Men/Little Miss series by Roger…
2021 in sonnets
In Competition No. 3232, you were invited to retell a news story from the past year in sonnet form. An…
Spectator competition winners: pretentious wine writing
In Competition No. 3231, you were invited to supply an example of pretentious wine writing. Space is tight and the…
Double issue
In Competition No. 3230, you were invited to supply a double acrostic poem, the first and last letters of each…
