Spring 2010 Acrostic Contest Winner

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"The course and the instructor have awakened in me a passion for writing I didn’t know I had."

- Sandra Feria
Office Assistant

"A fantastic way to dip your toes into the world of writing. This was really the best money I've spent in a long time and I plan to take another course next session."

- Joy Victory
Health Editor

More Student Quotes Here

With a nod to the newest film adaptation of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland, Writing.com partnered with Gotham Writers' Workshop to present an acrostic writing contest.

An acrostic is a series of lines in which certain letters--usually the first in each line--form a name or message when read in sequence. The most widely read acrostics occur in literature such as the one Lewis Carroll wrote in Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. In it, he left no doubt that the books were written specifically for Alice Pleasance Liddell. (For a closer look at the acrostic poem that concludes Through the Looking Glass and other examples, click here.)

ACROSTIC WRITING CONTEST
The challenge was to write an acrostic inspired by the word "wonder" up to 250 words in length.

Grand Prize Winner

Fireflies
by Abigail Mountain
Rangeley, ME

First, as a child

I watched in wonder

Roaming across dusk-lit fields

Eagerly tracing the space between

Flickering orbs of electric

Living luminosity.

I never smashed you on my face

Even when it was the neighborhood game.

Silently instead, I followed you home.

Second Prize Winner

What Are You Thinking?
by Matt Erasmus
Awali, Bahrain

“Could you please let me have some of those savoury, crunchy things?”

“Again he has that dumb, quizzical look.”

“Tag along after me, stupid, when we get to my bowl, then you will get my drift.”

“Lie around sleeping all day and now suddenly you want my attention.”

“Oh I’d love to know what you are thinking.”

“Very well, lead me to your cryptic clue.”

“Eats! I should have guessed.”

“Relish these; move your head so that I can pour them into your bowl, silly.”

Third Prize Winner

Sick Day Dreams
by Laurel Teal
Castle Rock, CO

Home in bed, sick, it's very

Easy to let your mind get the better of you.

Any other

Day, your dreams would be normal

And have a point to them. Unfortunately,

Coughing, Dayquil, and orange juice

Have no say over when you need a nap and

Eventually, without your permission, your body rudely goes to

Sleep.

Pretty soon, you're at places you would never travel to unless you had

Relatives there. Places like

Ogallala, Omsk, and Oglebay

Vampirevill, Villanova, and Vermont

India, Indiana, or Iceland. And suddenly

Denver has green skies, and

Everyone wears their cat on their head.

Then to top it all off, you realize what you're doing there!

Heating clamatto juice to give to vampire high school students, or maybe

Eating fish feet with your best friend, Scott the Vulcan.

But before you book that trip to

England. Remember to pack

Scott's allergy medicine-- he's allergic to

Tapioca pudding.

When you get to London, you are greeted by

Raul the super spy, who

Invites you on a

Top secret mission

In unchartered space.

Needless to say, you accept, and before you know it, you're fighting

Giant gummy bears on Hoth, with Scott and Raul at your side.

Magically, thankfully, you wake up.

And you figure out

That you lost

Eight hours from your day.

Realizing this, you frantically make yourself

Italian meat ball soup for dinner.

After all, you missed

Lunch.