Founded in 1982 at San Jose State University in California, the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest challenges entrants to compose opening sentences to the worst of all possible novels.
The BLFC was the misbegotten brainchild of Professor Scott Rice. Sentenced to write a seminar paper on a minor Victorian novelist, he chose the man with the funny hyphenated name, Edward George Bulwer-Lytton. Best known for The Last Days of Pompeii, his novel Paul Clifford began with the famous opener that has been plagiarized repeatedly by the cartoon beagle, Snoopy.
The Panel of Undistinguished Judges sorting entries circa 1984.
Later, Rice was to discover that the line had been around for donkey’s years before Lytton decided to have fun with it but the damage had been done. The BLFC had calumniated Lytton’s memory and rendered his name synonymous with bad writing, an author more widely read in his time than Charles Dickens.
Throughout the years the BLFC has been covered by all the major American television networks, and for decades the winners were announced by both national and international media.
Since retiring in 2014 the contest continues to be a labor of love for Dr. Rice and the fruit of his loins, his daughter EJ.
Contact Us
To enter your own clever claptrap, please use the form on our Rules & Submissions page.
For contest questions, issues, etc give EJ a shout. Every year we manage to bungle a name or attribution (or several), so don't be shy with the corrections. And we're happy to update names and locations any time.
Articles & Interviews
Scott and EJ in The Before Times
For you BLFC super fans (hi to both of you!), behold a smattering of the contest's acclaim and opprobrium from back in the day:
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*Shocking but true—People Magazine wasn't always only celebrity trash. Just mostly.
Cover of the first compilation published by Penguin