WILDE WIT

Darcy Sullivan shares the award-winning quips from The Oscar Wilde Society’s contest, sponsored by this very magazine

Everybody loves a good Oscar Wilde quote — they’re succinct, funny, paradoxical, wise and, above all, witty. The Oscar Wilde Society’s third Wilde Wit competition, run in conjunction with The Chap and The Oldie, challenged entrants to match his style with their own original entries. We received more than 300 entries, and the winners would make Oscar smile.

Our top entry came from Darcy Alexander Corstorphine, who is no stranger to this contest. In fact, he took top place in the first two Wilde Wit competitions! This year he achieved another feat, tying with himself for first prize with the two aphorisms below.

All three of our witty winners receive signed copies of Oscar Wilde: A Man for Our Times, the catalogue of Jeremy Mason’s Wilde collection published by Bonhams, graciously supplied by Mason. This is a beautiful, full-colour 64-page catalogue full of Wildean rarities.

Visit the Oscar Wilde Society website to learn more about the contest, and to see videos of the three winning entries, read by Gyles Brandreth and other honorary patrons of the society.

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