Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest

The Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest (BLFC) was a tongue-in-cheek contest, held annually and sponsored by the English Department of San José State University in San Jose, California until 2025.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Entrants were invited "to compose the opening sentence to the worst of all possible novels" – that is, one which was deliberately bad.

According to the official rules, the prize for winning the contest was "a pittance".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The 2008 winner received $250,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> while the 2014 winners' page said the grand prize winner received "about $150".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> In 2023, the prize was "a cheap certificate and bragging rights".<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The contest was started in 1982 by Professor Scott E. Rice of the English Department at San Jose State University and was named for English novelist and playwright Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, author of the much-quoted first line "It was a dark and stormy night". This opening, from the 1830 novel Paul Clifford, reads in full:

The first year of the competition attracted just three entries, but it went public the next year, received media attention, and attracted 10,000 entries.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The contest eventually expanded into several subcategories, such as detective fiction, romance novels, Western novels, and purple prose. Sentences that were notable but not quite bad enough to merit the Grand Prize or a category prize were awarded Dishonorable Mentions.

Winning entrants

The winning entries are available at the contest website.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Year	Author
1983	Gail Cain San Francisco, California
1984	Steven Garman Pensacola, Florida
1985	Martha Simpson Glastonbury, Connecticut
1986	Patricia E. Presutti Lewiston, New York
1987	Sheila B. Richter Minneapolis, Minnesota
1988	Rachel E. Sheeley Williamsburg, Indiana
1989	Ray C. Gainey Indianapolis, Indiana
1990	Linda Vernon Newark, California
1991	Judy Frazier Lathrop, Missouri
1992	Laurel Fortuner Montendre, France
1993	Wm. W. "Buddy" Ocheltree Port Townsend, Washington
1994	Larry Brill Austin, Texas
1995	John L. Ashman Houston, Texas
1996	Janice Estey Aspen, Colorado
1997	Artie Kalemeris Fairfax, Virginia
1998	Bob Perry Milton, Massachusetts
1999	Dr. David Chuter Kingston, U.K.
2000	Gary Dahl Los Gatos, California
2001	Sera Kirk Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada
2002	Rephah Berg Oakland, California
2003	Mariann Simms Wetumpka, Alabama
2004	Dave Zobel Manhattan Beach, California
2005	Dan McKay Fargo, North Dakota
2006	Jim Guigli Carmichael, California
2007	Jim Gleeson Madison, Wisconsin
2008	Garrison Spik Washington, D.C.
2009	David McKenzie Federal Way, Washington
2010	Molly Ringle Seattle, Washington
2011	Sue Fondrie Appleton, Wisconsin
2012	Cathy Bryant Manchester, England
2013	Chris Wieloch Brookfield, Wisconsin
2014	Elizabeth Dorfman Bainbridge Island, Washington
2015	Dr. Joel Phillips West Trenton, New Jersey
2016	William Barry Brockett Tallahassee, Florida
2017	Kat Russo Loveland, Colorado
2018	Tanya Menezes San Jose, California
2019	Maxwell Archer Mount Pleasant, OntarioTemplate:Efn
2020	Lisa Kluber San Francisco, California
2021	Stu Duval Auckland, New Zealand
2022	John Farmer Aurora, Colorado
2023	Maya Pasic New York, New York
2024	Lawrence Person Austin, Texas

Collections

Six books collecting the best BLFC entries have been published:

• It Was a Dark and Stormy Night (1984), Template:ISBN
• Son of "It Was a Dark and Stormy Night" (1986), Template:ISBN
• Bride of Dark and Stormy (1988), Template:ISBN
• It Was a Dark & Stormy Night: The Final Conflict (1992), Template:ISBN
• Dark and Stormy Rides Again (1996), Template:ISBN
• It Was a Dark and Stormy Night (2007), Template:ISBN

An audio cassette of the winning entries in the BLFC was also released:

• It Was a Dark and Stormy Night (1997), audio cassette, Template:ISBN.

See also

• Lyttle Lytton Contest, a derivative favoring extremely short first sentences
• The Dweller of the Threshold, a contemporaneous parody of Bulwer-Lytton by Bret Harte
• Purple prose
• Bad Sex in Fiction Award run by Literary Review magazine
• Bookseller/Diagram Prize for Oddest Title of the Year
• International Imitation Hemingway Competition

External links

• Bulwer Lytton Fiction Contest web site
• "From Worst to First: Literary Award Marks the Pits of Prose" Chronicle of Higher Education News blog (2007)