Wondering About the World
By: Victor Sarkin
Tags: Poetry, Giabprompt, Haiku, Archived Prompts, Writing Challenge

‘Genius in a Bottle’ Prompted Writing Challenge

Wondering About the World

GiaB writing prompt #7

Photo by sculpies on Shutterstock

Entombed in Giza,

within the Jewel of the Nile,

Pharaoh reigns supreme.

The zenith of human endeavour is memorialised for the future generations in the creation of mind-bending monuments. These structures have mystified and captivated the hearts, curiosities, souls and minds of the human community. Their very presence is a story that tells of great poetry, romance and spirit. The mysteries circulating these structures have themselves brought forth centuries great literature, study, discussion and thought.

The Challenge

We invite any writers to produce a piece of poetry, fiction or non-fiction on the topic of Man-made Wonders of the World.

For this challenge we are only accepting pieces about any of, or a combination of, the following structures:

EDIT (17/11/2020): In keeping with the spirit of the prompted challenges, namely to write on a given topic rather than one of one’s choice, we have specified structures to be considered for response topics (see below). That being said, since the topic is on the official Man-made Wonders of the World, if one wishes to write about a structure, not listed below, but one which has appeared on an official Man-made Wonders list, please feel free to email us at geniusinabottlemedium@gmail.com with the name of the structure and which list in which it was listed. If the structure checks out, GiaB will honour any responses written on the topic of that structure.

Great Pyramid of Giza in El Giza, Egypt

Colossus of Rhodes in Rhodes, Greece

Hanging Gardens of Babylon in Babylon, Iraq

Lighthouse of Alexandria in Alexandria, Egypt

Mausoleum at Halicarnassus in Halicarnassus, Turkey

Statue of Zeus in Olympia, Greece

Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, Turkey

We will also accept pieces about the following structures:

Catacombs of Kom el Shoqafa in Alexandria, Egypt

Colosseum in Rome, Italy

Great Wall of China

Hagia Sophia in Istanbul, Turkey

Leaning Tower of Pisa in Pisa, Italy

Porcelain Tower of Nanjing in Nanjing, People’s Republic of China

Stonehenge in Wiltshire, England

Cairo Citadel in Cairo, Egypt

Cluny Abbey in Cluny, France

Ely Cathedral in Ely, England.

Taj Mahal in Agra, India

Late additions to the list of approved structures:

Machu Picchu in Peru (2007 List)

Petra in Jordan (2007 List)

The Guidelines

We cannot publish pieces or reward writers who self publish or publish at another publication, so those pieces have to remain external to the challenge. Only pieces submitted to Genius in a Bottle will be considered for the challenge. If inviting other writers from outside the publication, please ensure they are aware of this.

Poetry is to be limited to 30 lines but can be in any style.

Fiction and non-fiction submissions are to be capped at 750 words.

Please refer to the prompt in the subtitle. Feel free to copy this as a template: GiaB prompt # [insert prompt number and theme here].

When submitting, please ensure that one of the 5 tags is GiaBprompt.

Please ensure a second tag is Poetry, fiction, or non-fiction, as appropriate.

We would like to become exposed to writers and pieces that you have enjoyed in all of Medium. Please tag up to ten writers whose pieces you have enjoyed recently, or who you feel may enjoy participating in this challenge.

For further information pertaining to the challenge, please refer to the rules and guidelines.

And away we go. We look forward to enjoying the paradise of the written word with you all.

Victor Sarkin and Chirag