The Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest was started in 1982 by Professor Scott E. Rice of the English Department at San Jose State University. The annual tongue-in-cheek contest invited entrants "to compose the opening sentence to the worst of all possible novels" – that is, one which was deliberately bad.
"She had a body that reached out and slapped my face like a five-pound ham-hock tossed from a speeding truck."
Lawrence Person, Austin, (2024 Winner)
Professor Rice joins us to share some of his favourites and to explain why, after all these years, he’s decided to pull the plug on the contest.
Photo: Düsseldorfer Auktionshaus
