If you are writing a book and want it to stand out amongst the stiff competition, you could do worse than give it a really bizarre title.

The Diagram Prize is an annual literary award which recognises and rewards unusual book titles. It started originally as a sideshow at the 1978 Frankfurt Book Fair, and is now a much-anticipated competition, decided by public vote. Occasionally there have been years when no winner has been announced, due to the entries not being ‘odd enough’!

Past winners include:

Strangers have the Best Candy by Margaret Meps Shulte (2015)

Managing a Dental Practise: The Genghis Khan Way by Michael Young (2010)

The Stray Shopping Carts of Eastern North America by Julian Montague (2006)

Bombproof your Horse by Rick Pelicano (2004)

How to Avoid Huge Ships by John W. Trimmer (1992)

But my personal favourite has to be Goblinproofing One’s Chicken Coop by Reginald Bakeley (2013)

from the Amazon description:

Goblinproofing One’s Chicken Coop is the only complete manual on how to identify, track, defend, and destroy those bothersome brownies, goblins, dwarves, scheming flower-fairies, and other nasty members of the fairy realm.

The Editor said of the triumphant win: “Reginald and I take this as a clear sign that people have had enough of goblins in their chicken coops. Our campaign against the fairy kingdom continues.”

A very deserving (and useful) winner! 🙂