The call for scenes describing a well-known character from children’s literature past grappling with a 21st-century problem drew an entry full of wit and variety. Pamela Dow reimagined Louisa May Alcott’s girls posting selfies and practising mindfulness, while Harriet Elvin’s Eeyore longed for someone to invent anti-social media, and Adrian Fry provided a thoroughly 21st-century exchange between William and Violet-Elizabeth Bott: ‘“William thexted me. And I thexted him. We’re going to thext and thext until we’re…” “Thick.” William concluded, self-pityingly.’
Commendations to Paul Wheeler for his portrait of Paddington Bear falling foul of immigration and to Josh Ekroy. The bonus fiver goes to G.M. Davis’s ‘Jabberwocky’ reworked for the digital age, and the rest take £30.
G.M. Davis ’Twas cleggy and the cybertrolls Did snark and gribble on the Web. All memish were the twittermoles For any zedlist sleb.
‘Beware the Googleweb, my son! The links that lure, the whorgled word! Eschew the Candycrush, and shun The slavid MadBid bird!
Avoid the pornucopia where The prunts and pantinudes at play Display their publes, free as air, And fricticate all day!’
He took his snafrous mouse in hand; ‘Click-clack’ went he, confining thus The googlet’s algorithmic band To the salubrious.
Harriet Elvin ‘Hurry up!’ cried Dick.
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