[Chris O'Carroll]

No 4269
By Leonora Casement
An oldie that has produced more amusing entries than most. We want a co-written novel involving dialogue between two characters, in which each character’s words have been taken on by one of the two (very distinctive) authors; Agatha Christie and Martin Amis, say, or James Joyce and Barbara Cartland.
Max 150 words by 21 March comp@newstatesman.co.uk

[Peter Goulding]

Sorry, Mr. Thickie here.

Does this mean we use the authors named or can we select our own authors?

Does the novel have to be real?

[John Whitworth]

You can choose any authors you like.

[Chris O'Carroll]

We can use any two authors we like. The two suggested pairings are there just to prime the pump. Maybe I don't understand your second question, but I don't see how our novels could be "real," since we'll probably be pairing up writers who've never collaborated on anything. I assume it's perfectly OK to use characters who actually do appear in real novels by our chosen authors (although we can also invent brand new characters who sound like those writers' creations). But when we imagine dialogue between characters from two very different books by two very different authors, the results are bound to be pretty darn unreal.

[Peter Goulding]

Ah I get it, thanks Chris. I thought maybe Enid Blyton and Dickens had to collaborate on a passage from Animal Farm, but now the centime has dropped.

[Brian Allgar]

Peter, if I were you, I wouldn't attempt Finnegans Wake by Henry James and Virginia Woolf.