The Joe Orton Creative Writing Competition 2024

 

The School of Arts, Media and Communication at the University of Leicester runs an annual Joe Orton Creative Writing Competition that invites A-Level students to write an Edna Welthorpe letter.

"Edna Welthorpe" was the persona that Orton invented to satirise the values he abjured - middle-class, middlebrow, conservative. Through Edna's letters of complaint (or praise), Orton lampooned social and sexual convention. 

Below, the 2024 winner, Mona Bacon (Brighton, Hove & Sussex Sixth Form College) reflects on her experience of the competition.

You can read Mona’s winning Edna Welthorpe letter here. Details about previous years' winners are on Creative Writing at Leicester here. Next year’s competition is already open – deadline: 30 June, 2025. Details are here. 

By Mona Bacon

Having previously only vaguely heard of Joe Orton, I was charmed by his playful approach to his characters when I read his plays. I particularly love the way he embraces the extremes and absurdity of the world he saw around him but avoids cruelty or personal insult in his prank letters, channelling his frustrations into humour.

As I recently started working part-time in retail, my entry into the competition was inspired by the somewhat ridiculous comments and complaints that many of the British public still generously employ. While the term "Aunt Edna" may have originally described theatre-goers of the 1950s, the entitled attitude of Edna Welthorpe is still no thing of the past.

This competition was a lovely way to get back into the Creative Writing I used to enjoy, reminding me that it can be silly as well as serious. I found the experience of writing from the perspective of someone so different from me incredibly freeing, and this has been a brilliant exercise in using tone and voice to create an interesting and engaging character.

While Edna’s abundance of self-entitlement is certainly excessive, I do think that small doses of this confidence can be a very helpful asset, and I hope to continue applying this to my writing and my own character. Perhaps, every once in a while, we should all be a little bit Edna Welthorpe.

Joe Orton Creative Writing Competition 2023: The Results

The School of Arts at the University of Leicester runs an annual Joe Orton Creative Writing Competition that invites A-Level students to write an Edna Welthorpe letter. "Edna Welthorpe" was the persona that Orton invented to embody the values he abjured - middle-class, middlebrow, conservative. Through Edna's letters of complaint (or praise), Orton mocks social and sexual convention. 

The annual Joe Orton Creative Writing Competition is funded by a kind donation from Dame Vivienne Westwood.

You can read this year's two winning letters, by Hazel Morpurgo and Amelie Houseago, and the runner-up letter, by Chloe Howe, here. 

Below, Hazel Morpurgo talks about her writing processes, her experience of writing Edna Welthorpe (Mrs) letters, and her success in the Joe Orton Creative Writing Competition 2023. Congratulations to all the winners, and thanks to all the entrants! 

By Hazel Morpurgo

I first came across Joe Orton through A-Level English, in which we studied his 1965 play Loot. I learned about the Edna Welthorpe letters in his biography, Prick Up Your Ears, and found the concept of spoof letters hilarious, especially when I discovered that Edna had a counterpart: the endlessly congratulatory Donald H. Hartley, also constructed by Orton. The pair would even argue about Orton’s plays in newspaper review columns! I was already an Edna enthusiast, therefore, when my English teacher recommended this competition to the class.

Given my own participation in Extinction Rebellion and Fridays for Future, I wanted to provide a comedic account of the petty individualism which prevents many people from engaging with the important issues these movements represent. Through the prominent roles cooking, frying and charring play in this short narrative, I provide an allegory of climate change, a theme which I tried to make implicit further in the name I originally gave to my Edna Welthorpe, 'Constance Mundham,' which I derived from the Latin expression 'contra mundum.' I thought this phrase appropriate because it crops up regularly in Joe Orton’s defiant diary entries, and also because its literal meaning – ‘against the world’ – seemed to fit my character in every sense: against everyone around her and, in her inability to comprehend bigger issues than her cookery class, against the planet.

I really enjoyed using my knowledge of Orton’s style, which I had gathered from English lessons, and applying it to my own Edna Welthorpe letter. Writing the piece towards the end of studying Loot, the Edna Welthorpe competition was the ideal way to round everything up, channelling my various impressions of his work into this entry.

Joe Orton Creative Writing Competition 2022: The Results

The School of Arts at the University of Leicester runs an annual Joe Orton Creative Writing Competition that invites A-Level students to write an Edna Welthorpe letter. "Edna Welthorpe" was the persona that Orton invented to embody the values he abjured - middle-class, middlebrow, conservative. Through Edna's letters of complaint (or praise), Orton mocks social and sexual convention. 

The Joe Orton Creative Writing Competition is funded by a kind donation from Dame Vivienne Westwood. It runs annually. 

You can read the winning, runner-up and highly commended letters, by Alex Lee, Danny Stringer and Miriam Waters respectively, here. 

Below, Alex and Danny talk about their writing processes, their experiences of writing Edna Welthorpe (Mrs) letters, and their success in the Joe Orton Creative Writing Competition 2021. Congratulations to all the winners!

Winner: Alex Lee, Hill Road Sixth Form College, Cambridge

I first heard about the Enda Welthorpe competition when my Sixth Form English department emailed us all about it. I looked it up and really liked the style of Joe Orton’s letters as the high-strung Mrs Welthorpe. I also write comedy sketches in my spare time, so writing my own letter sounded like a lot of fun. I started by thinking of something she could misinterpret and decided upon Halloween Trick or Treating. Being a fairly recent tradition, I thought it would be exactly the kind of thing Mrs Welthorpe would have missed and would disapprove of should she discover it. Also, people dressed as demons demanding sweets would be quite frightening if you had no idea what was going on, setting her at odds with the “youths” involved and adding a subtext of generational conflict. Having the weirdness of Trick or Treating examined from an outsider’s perspective and a general comic misunderstanding also adds a humorous tone to the letter (I hope).

Reading Joe Orton’s letters, the character of Mrs Welthorpe jumped off the page, so I found capturing her voice quite easy, and the letter almost wrote itself. I really loved coming up with phrases that hyperbolised the events as much as possible to embody Mrs Welthorpe’s formal disdain of “today’s youth.” The hardest part was condensing what I wrote into 200 words, and I really appreciated Joe Orton’s craftmanship in creating such a vivid characterisation in such brief pieces of writing.

I’m absolutely over the moon that my letter was chosen as the winner. I’m really glad the judges thought I’d captured the spirit of Joe Orton as I intended. And other people enjoying what I’ve written is just the best feeling I could ask for. I’m so grateful to the organisers at Leicester University for running such a brilliant competition. It was just so much fun to take part in, and I hope it continues Joe Orton’s legacy for years to come.

Runner-Up: Danny Stringer, Reigate College Surrey

My first experience with Joe Orton was reading his diaries, which later led me to his plays. I was immediately impressed by his eye for wittily pointing out some of the blatant hypocrisies of traditional English society. He has been compared to Oscar Wilde for that reason, who like Orton has sometimes had the greatness of his works dismissed by some ugly trivialities.

Entering the competition, I remembered the rebellious gall of the Edna Welthorpe letters and was excited to adopt her voice as my own. Edna, Orton’s mouthpiece, hilariously exposed the non-sensical element of prejudice. When I wrote my letter directed to Hellmann's mayonnaise, Edna is infuriated by a new recipe that she alleges is the product of a declining society, one straying from the traditional norms that she is accustomed to. I chose mayonnaise because it is ordinary, traditional, and inoffensive. This new recipe is unpalatably spicy to Edna, and she believes it to be an affront to her extremely British taste-buds due to her obvious xenophobia. Orton used Edna to satirize a world unwilling to change its rigid rule book. As a queer person, I have been made uncomfortable in situations with people who suppose that society is headed downhill due to people like me. But what I admire about Orton, also queer, was that he realized his status as an outsider and used it to his advantage, making himself a spectator which gave him a gift for insight. When I wrote about “our society’s repulsive dance with decadence” I was making fun of some bigots who understand that hate-speech is no longer welcomed in most mainstream circles and find other ways of indirectly expressing it. “Decadence” is a nod to queer people, though Edna wouldn’t overtly say it.

I enjoyed being able to steal Orton’s iconic character for a moment and tried hard to make her seem as insane as possible. I found more and more as I wrote it that a lot of hysteria comes from people being afraid of change. Though going back a few steps is inevitable, arguably progression is even more so.

Joe Orton Creative Writing Competition 2021: The Results

The School of Arts at the University of Leicester runs an annual Joe Orton Creative Writing competition that invites A-Level students to write an Edna Welthorpe letter. 'Edna Welthorpe' was the persona that Orton invented to embody the values he abjured - a middle-class, middlebrow, conservative. Through Edna's letters of complaint (or praise), Orton mocks social and sexual convention. 

The Joe Orton Creative Writing Competition is funded by a kind donation from Dame Vivienne Westwood. It runs annually. 

You can read the winning and runner-up letters, by Penelope Ogieriakhi and Bella Breen respectively, here. 

Below, Penelope and Bella talk about their writing processes, their experiences of writing Edna Welthorpe (Mrs) letters, and their success in the Joe Orton Creative Writing Competition 2021. Congratulations to both of them!

By Penelope Ogieriakhi, James Allen's Girls' School, London  (winner)

Writing. There are a lot of other words that belong to that word. I could exchange it for questioning, imagining, confessing, remembering, exploring … the list goes on. I think that the essence of a person is enclosed in what they write when nobody has asked them to. My version of this is poetry - another word which owns many others. To me, poetry is writing without the need for convention, or rather, writing with no dress code: as fancy or as simple as can be. 

Scrolling through my school sixth-form weekly notices, I looked for something to prompt me to write. I wanted to turn away from my own thoughts and see what topics occupied other minds. I met Edna Welthorpe and instantly loved her character (however difficult she may seem!). Each letter was exquisitely fiddly and exasperating in its own fantastic way. What’s most successful about Joe Orton’s Edna is the universality of the dialogue. That is to say that there is a bit of Edna in everyone, which is the very reason why we can’t stop ourselves from laughing at what is quite frankly a reflection of the never-satisfied human brain. This, I thought, is writing with no dress code. 

Out of all the potential topics that came to mind, the idea of a neatly boxed delivery of organic vegetables seemed most ripe for satire. The subject seemed apt for the lampooning of a faintly Victorian sexual prudery still present in some quarters today. Beginning my ‘rant,’ I thought not just of myself but of all the people I’d encountered and how they would feel about each aspect of the experience. I was able to poke fun at the spectacle around trying to find the right words simply to express bourgeois hypocrisy and the culture of ‘saying not to say.’ An Edna Welthorpe letter was a great way to analyse modern society.

I was glad to find a new interest in Joe Orton, whose works are still very much relevant, thanks to this competition. As I wrote, I realised how easy it was to place importance on such trivial things. Writing about potatoes, carrots and mushrooms can bring as much joy as any other subject in poetry, which is pretty wonderful.

By Bella Breen, Colyton Grammar, Devon (runner-up)

As someone who perhaps spends a little too much of their free time spamming their friends with joke emails and letters, I was excited to hear that there was a perfect competition for my unusual hobby! 

Having been studying the play Loot at the time, my English teacher thought that writing a letter in the style of  Edna Welthorpe (Mrs) would be the perfect way to jump into the brilliant mind of Joe Orton. 

We read through a few of Orton’s ‘Edna’ letters during class and his work instantly reminded me of Joe Lycett, one of my favourite comedians, who is also well-known for mocking the ‘Edna Welthorpes’ of the world through his spoof emails. To be able to write something that momentarily brings joy and laughter to someone’s life, such as Orton’s letters did, for me, is the greatest reason to write at all. 

I couldn’t say that I had a plan when it came to writing my letter of complaint about ‘Peppa Pig’ because that would be a lie. I simply just started writing furiously before any of my ideas could fall out of my head. This is often the way in which I write. It’s always worthwhile to look up from my laptop screen and see my friend smirking as they read the nonsense email I’ve written for them about ‘A French Exchange Trip to Prêt à Manger’ or ‘The Crucial Difference Between Pesto and Pistou’ or, my personal favourite, ‘How Deadly Tuna Fish Will Kill Us All!’ 

I chose ‘Peppa Pig’ as my subject  purely because I found the thought of a grown adult being offended by a cartoon pig who enjoys jumping in muddy puddles  absolutely hilarious. I believed it was something a modern day Edna Welthorpe might waste her time obsessing over. 

I am grateful to have been able to take part in this competition because it has given me a sense of satisfaction in knowing that my love for comedic writing is shared with others. Overall I have greatly enjoyed the opportunity to put my creative skills to the test and take Edna Welthorpe  from the 1960s and bring her into how I believe she might look in the present day. 

Joe Orton Creative Writing Competition 2020: Results

The School of Arts at the University of Leicester runs an annual Joe Orton Creative Writing competition that invites A-Level students to write an Edna Welthorpe letter. 'Edna Welthorpe' was the persona that Orton invented to embody the values he abjured - a middle-class, middlebrow, conservative. Through Edna's letters of complaint (or praise), Orton mocks social and sexual convention. 

The Joe Orton Creative Writing Competition is funded by a kind donation from Dame Vivienne Westwood. It runs annually. The deadline for entries next year is 30 June 2021.

You can read the winning and runner-up letters, by Emmy Warr and Josie Thornton respectively, here.

Below, Emmy and Josie talk about their writing processes, their experiences of writing Edna Welthorpe letters, and their success in the Joe Orton Creative Writing Competition 2020. Congratulations to both of them!

By Emmy Warr (winner)

I first heard about the Joe Orton competition through an email from my English teacher, and was immediately drawn to the humorous elements of the character of Edna Welthorpe. 

I’ve always enjoyed Creative Writing and reading satirical pieces, so it was great to have the opportunity to merge the two, as normal school curriculum doesn’t often allow for this kind of comedic writing. I was also drawn to the social commentary aspect of the letters in Edna Welthorpe’s caricatured presentation of social conservatism, which lightheartedly explores the clash between the modern world and outdated viewpoints. 

When it came to my own letter I tried to include these features to best capture the voice of Edna, choosing the subject matter of women’s clothing because it allowed for me to explore generational conflicts on a smaller scale. I also tried to replicate her pomposity and exaggerated outrage to reflect the caricatured nature of Orton’s letters, and the contrast between the mundane content and hyperbolic tone of the writing that is a key feature in his original Edna Welthorpe letters. It was great fun to write in the voice of such an over-the-top character.

Overall I think entering the competition gave me a great outlet to explore satirical writing and an opportunity to discover a hilarious and entertaining character. I was delighted to win and have a new-found confidence in my Creative Writing.

By Josie Thornton (runner-up)

For me, the appeal of Creative Writing is the experience of immersing myself in somebody else’s thoughts. It’s great to explore how people can have such different perspectives on the world that we live in, and it’s interesting to adapt my style of writing to suit each specific voice. Edna Welthorpe is certainly a strong and defined persona. Before I began to write my piece, I read through some of Joe Orton’s original Edna letters, to look at the different issues he was addressing, and also to explore exactly how Orton engineered Edna's distinctly priggish tone. The letters made me smile, and I couldn’t help but hear Edna’s shrill, disapproving voice, dripping with superiority. I could see her tapping away at her typewriter, peering over her glasses, rather pleased with herself as she signed her name, Edna Welthorpe, and of course not to forget the (Mrs), which in itself seemed to speak volumes about her traditional character. 

I decided that my letter was going to be addressed to a grocery delivery service, since at the time when I was writing, towards the beginning of the national lockdown, society was going crazy for stockpiling and booking delivery slots for weeks in advance. I imagined that Edna Welthorpe would get caught up in this flurry of panic-buying, and felt certain that even despite the extreme and trying circumstances, she would still feel the need to voice her concerns, oblivious to the fact that Ocado might have more pressing worries to address than defrosting dauphinoise, during a time of national crisis. 

I’ve loved having a go at imitating Orton’s style, and feel especially proud to celebrate his work since he is from my hometown of Leicester. 

Call for Submissions: "Yours Faithfully, Edna Welthorpe (Mrs)" Annual Creative Writing Competition