Lucy Vickery

Competition | 28 June 2008

Child's play

issue 28 June 2008

In Competition No. 2550 you were invited to submit a children’s story or a poem written in the style of an established author who has never published in that genre. The challenge produced a lacklustre response in the main with a few top-notch exceptions. The entry was split evenly between verse and prose, and it’s hats off to the poets, who triumphed this week. The winners, printed below, get £25 each. George Simmers scoops the bonus fiver. I’ve got infants on the brain as I’m having a baby soon. In my absence you’ll be in the capable hands of James Young. Please note the new email address for entries.

His boot was fashioned for the spade’s lug.

That man with the big ears wipes his forehead
As he stands satisfied above smell of fresh diggings,
Above the knobbled potatoes and the muscular worms.

‘May I dig also? May I?’
The boy calls out to him, as he slunches through the yard,
Past the turnip snedder, past the rusted bucket.

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