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Bulwer Lytton Fiction Contest 2011
The winner of the 2011 Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest is Sue Fondrie with this first line: ‘Cheryl’s mind turned like the vanes of a wind-powered turbine, chopping her sparrow-like thoughts into bloody pieces that fell onto a growing pile of forgotten memories.’ Fondrie is an associate professor of Curriculum and Instruction at the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh who works groan-inducing wordplay into her teaching and administrative duties whenever possible. Out of school, she introduces two members of the next generation to the mysteries of Star Trek, Star Wars, and - of course - the art of the bad pun. Professor Fondrie is the 29th grand prize winner of the contest that that began at San Jose State University in 1982. At 26 words, her submission is the shortest grand prize winner ever. Given annually since 1982, the competition, sponsored by the English department at the University, is inspired by the melodramatic first line of Sir Edward Bulwer-Lytton's 1830 novel Paul Clifford:‘It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents – except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness.’ The runner-up was from Rodney Reed on Ooltewah, TN: ‘As I stood among the ransacked ruin that had been
my home, surveying the aftermath of the senseless horrors and atrocities that
had been perpetrated on my family and everything I hold dear, I swore to myself
that no matter where I had to go, no matter what I had to do or endure, I would
find the man who did this . . . and when I did, when I did, oh, there would be
words.’ |
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