In Competition No. 2634 you were invited to submit an obituary of a well-known figure, past or present, as they themselves might have written it.
In a strong field, the entry was split fairly evenly between prose and poetry. Many poets have penned their own epitaph. Malcolm Lowry’s memorable six-liner begins thus: ‘Malcolm Lowry/ Late of the Bowery/ His prose was flowery/ and often glowery…’ Thank you, Gerard Benson, for drawing it to my attention.
On the prose side, Baron Archer of Weston-super-Mare was a predictably popular subject. As befits one not short on self-belief, his obits are object lessons in accentuating the positive. I liked Michael Cregan channelling R.D. Laing tying himself up in epistemological knots; Noel Petty, Janet Kenny, Josephine Boyle and Frank McDonald also stood out. The winners, printed below, get £25 each. The bonus fiver goes to Martin Parker.
My aims were modest; simple verses
To extol the lasting charms
Of Englishness, suburban values,
Clean-limbed girls with suntanned arms,
Of Gothic tracery and Cornwall,
The Church, the linchpin of our nation,
Tradition, prayer, the middle class
And railways and St Pancras Station.
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