Remembering the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest — a contest for bad writing

By Deena Prichep

Published August 12, 2025 at 4:02 PM CDT

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For four decades, an English professor at San Jose State University has run a fiction contest for a single opening sentence to "the worst of all possible novels." He has decided to retire the contest.

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Deena Prichep