Davian Aw Wins 2012 Lyttle Lytton Contest

Posted on April 16, 2012

The winner of the 2012 Lyttle Lytton Contest for bad writing has been announced. The winner is is Davian Aw who wrote: "Agent Jeffrey's trained eyes rolled carefully around the room, taking in the sights and sounds."

The founder of the contest, Adam Cadre, explains why this entry won: "When I read the first half of this, I thought, yes, I've heard editors grumbling about the use of "eyes" for "gaze": "'Her eyes landed on his lapel pin' - didn't that hurt?" Then I reached the "and sounds" part and knew this one would be tough to beat. There were entries at which I laughed more, but the combination of craft, plausibility, and cringe factor - and, yes, laughs - put this one on top."

Here are some of the honorable mentions:

"Bang! As the bullet hit her ear, she felt an excruciating pain, as if her ear were screaming into itself." --Tanner Swett

"She had the kind of face that made you want to say hey, look at your face." --Clara Weinstein

"Sheila woke up instantly; it was that dream again - the one with the face, and the man, with the face." --Sean Jorgensen

And our favorite: "'I'm a winner,' thought Seabiscuit, galloping across the finish line." --K.M. Lewis