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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. 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". The 2008 winner received $250, while the 2014 winners' page said the grand prize winner received "about $150". In 2023, the prize was "a cheap certificate and bragging rights".
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. 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.
The contest was discontinued in 2025 by a retired Scott Rice, citing the increasing burden of running it at an older age.
Winning entrants
The winning entries are available at the contest website.
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 2013Chris Wieloch Brookfield, Wisconsin 2014Elizabeth Dorfman Bainbridge Island, Washington2015Dr. Joel Phillips West Trenton, New Jersey2016William Barry Brockett Tallahassee, Florida2017Kat Russo Loveland, Colorado2018Tanya Menezes San Jose, California2019Maxwell Archer Mount Pleasant, Ontario2020Lisa Kluber San Francisco, California2021Stu Duval Auckland, New Zealand2022John Farmer Aurora, Colorado2023Maya Pasic New York, New York2024Lawrence Person Austin, Texas
Collections Six books collecting the best BLFC entries have been published: It Was a Dark and Stormy Night (1984), Son of "It Was a Dark and Stormy Night" (1986), Bride of Dark and Stormy (1988), It Was a Dark & Stormy Night: The Final Conflict (1992), Dark and Stormy Rides Again (1996), It Was a Dark and Stormy Night (2007),
An audio cassette of the winning entries in the BLFC was also released: It Was a Dark and Stormy Night (1997), audio cassette, .
See also Lyttle Lytton Contest, a derivative favoring extremely short first sentences 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
Notes
References
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)