L*pogram Challenge Winners

Top marks to Joyce Sherry for How Helen Katasko Lost Her Job, our winner of the L*pogram Challenge which gives a nod to Patricia Highsmith’s Ripley, at least that’s what it felt like to us. We enjoyed the cleverness of the language that turned constraint into virtue. “Up the creek sans paddle,” Helen says, the lack of the letter ‘i’ telling you something about her character. A nicely propulsive plot and a sense of the briny sea brought added enjoyment.

And bravo to Dane BH, in second place, for Breakfast, the day after — a really sensitive piece that explored what it means to find a new home. We might not have known this was written for this challenge; it simply works as a piece on its own, the quiet revelation of the carer’s own background a powerful moment.

Some of our runners-up played with the idea of the challenge in a really pleasing way. Amos Glade’s The Bump brought eye-widening horror — quite literally — to life. Joe O’Connor’s A place to lay her head renamed a library “the place of pages” — but then showed us why, to good effect. And Hannah Moore’s All Our Yesterdays was a powerful tale of conflict.

We’ll be honest with you. We’d planned to write this little piece as a lipogram… but gosh, it’s tough! So an extra tip of the hat (slant of the chapeau…) to all of you who posted such terrific (amazing) pieces. I mean… Articles… nope. Stories…? Arrgh. You get the idea. You folks are sure smart!

You can check out the full list of winners HERE and learn about our current challenges below: