It’s time for our annual Fantasy Limerick contest!
Your task is to create an original limerick that has something to do with speculative fiction. It could be about a character, a series, an author, or whatever fits the theme. Here are the rules for creating a good limerick (quoting from this source). A limerick:
- is five lines long
- is based on the rhythm “da-da-DAH” (anapest meter)
- has two different rhymes
Lines 1, 2, and 5 have three of those da-da-DAH “feet,” and rhyme with each other.- Lines 3 and 4 have two, and rhyme with each other.
- You can break the meter rules if there’s a good reason. You may
- drop the first “da” in a line, changing that foot to da-DAH
- add an extra “da” or two at the end of a line IF it’s used for an extended rhyme, such as cannibal and Hannibal
- The best limericks are funny or witty or clever.
So, the meter goes like this:
da da DAH / da da DAH / da da BING
da da DAH / da da DAH / da da DING
da da DAH / da da BAM
da da DAH / da da WHAM
da da DAH / da da DAH / da da PING
As examples, here are some previous winners:
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There are some brilliant limericks in our previous columns. We encourage you to go back and read them (use the links in the limericks above).
Now it’s your turn. We can’t wait to read what you create! If it’s not obvious what your limerick is a tribute to, please mention it in your comment. And if you want us to give you credit on Twitter, include your Twitter handle.
The author of the limerick we like best wins a book from our stacks or a FanLit T-shirt (sizes avail are S – XL). If you live outside the US, we’ll send a $7 Amazon gift card.
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Deep in the winter so cold
inspired by stories of old
a poor farmer’s daughter
a princess led to slaughter
and a Jew who spins silver to gold.
A SecUnit has no free will
But this one had quite had its fill
A governor hack
It never looked back
Murderbot’s off inventory still
(Martha Wells, obviously.)
@mockramblings
My tale starts with an immortal’s curse,
Then come men whose behavior is worse.
Why, they’re ALREADY swine,
So the irony’s divine!
Signed, the woman whose name isn’t “Serse.”
(My preferred pronunciation is “sir-see,” if you couldn’t tell.)
Hobbit parties are known for their mead
And their tendency to overfeed
But when Bilbo went missing
Some started a-hissing
They should probably lay off the weed
Jonathan, our panel of FanLit judges has declared you the winner.
If you live in the USA, you win a book of your choice from our stacks.
Please contact me (Marion) with your choice and a US address. Happy reading!
Greetings to the limerickers from FanLit’s 2019 Limerick contest. Our 2020 contest is in progress here: https://fantasyliterature.com/giveaway/fanlits-2020-sff-limerick-contest/
We hope to hear from you!
Greetings to the limerickers from FanLit’s 2019 Limerick contest.
Our Tenth Annual contest is in progress here: https://fantasyliterature.com/giveaway/tenth-annual-speculative-fiction-limerick-contest/
We hope to read another of your amazing creations!