Monday, August 18, 2008

Bad Writing, Inspired by New York

The annual Bulwer-Lytton Fiction contest for bad writing has produced another collection of painful prose, The Associated Press reported. The competition, sponsored by the San Jose State University English department since 1982, invites writers to submit the worst possible opening sentences to imaginary novels and includes awards for a variety of categories. This year’s winner compares a New York City street to a romantic relationship.

“Theirs was a New York love, a checkered taxi ride burning rubber, and like the city their passion was open 24/7, steam rising from their bodies like slick streets exhaling warm, moist, white breath through manhole covers stamped ‘Forged by DeLaney Bros., Piscataway, N.J.’ ”

The passage was written by Garrison Spik, 41, , a communications director and writer from Washington. The contest, named for Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, whose 1830 novel “Paul Clifford,” begins, “It was a dark and stormy night,” awards a $250 prize to the winner.

excerpted from Arts, Briefly
Compiled by Julie Bloom
Published: August 14, 2008
The New York Times