Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest (indirectly, via the author’s style)
E939717
The Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest is an annual humorous writing competition that invites entrants to compose deliberately bad opening sentences to imaginary novels, parodying the notoriously florid prose style of Victorian author Edward Bulwer-Lytton.
Observed surface forms (1)
| Surface form | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest | 0 |
Statements (46)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
annual event
ⓘ
humorous contest ⓘ literary parody competition ⓘ writing contest ⓘ |
| aim |
to celebrate playful misuse of language
ⓘ
to satirize clichéd and overwrought fiction openings ⓘ |
| alsoKnownAs | Bulwer-Lytton Contest NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| associatedWith |
Edward Bulwer-Lytton
NERFINISHED
ⓘ
Victorian literature ⓘ literary humor ⓘ |
| basedOn | prose style of Edward Bulwer-Lytton ⓘ |
| country |
United States of America
ⓘ
surface form:
United States
|
| culturalImpact | popularized the phrase "dark and stormy night" as a symbol of bad writing ⓘ |
| entryLength | single sentence ⓘ |
| entryType | opening sentence to an imaginary novel ⓘ |
| evaluationBy | judges ⓘ |
| focus | opening sentences rather than complete stories ⓘ |
| frequency | annual ⓘ |
| genre |
humor
ⓘ
parody ⓘ |
| hasCategory |
dishonorable mentions
ⓘ
genre-specific winners ⓘ overall winner ⓘ |
| hasParticipant |
amateur writers
ⓘ
professional writers ⓘ |
| hasTheme | deliberately bad style rather than poor grammar ⓘ |
| humorStyle |
campy
ⓘ
overwrought ⓘ purple prose ⓘ |
| inception | 1982 ⓘ |
| inspiredBy | Edward Bulwer-Lytton NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| language | English ⓘ |
| name | Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest NERFINISHED ⓘ |
| notablePhraseParodied | It was a dark and stormy night GENERATED ⓘ |
| parodies |
Victorian melodramatic fiction openings
ⓘ
florid prose style ⓘ |
| purpose | to encourage the creation of deliberately bad opening sentences to imaginary novels ⓘ |
| requires | original work by the entrant ⓘ |
| selectionCriteria |
creativity
ⓘ
deliberate badness in style ⓘ humor ⓘ |
| subjectOf | media coverage in newspapers and magazines ⓘ |
| submissionMethod | written submissions ⓘ |
| topic | fiction writing openings ⓘ |
| typicalTone |
self-aware badness
ⓘ
tongue-in-cheek ⓘ |
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.