Purple prose is a term of literary criticism used to describe passages, or sometimes entire literary works, written in prose so extravagant, ornate, or flowery as to break the flow and draw attention to itself. Purple prose is sensually evocative beyond the requirements of its context. It also refers to writing that employs certain rhetorical effects such as exaggerated sentiment or pathos in an attempt to manipulate a reader's response. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Purple_prose http://www.fiction-writers-mentor.com/purple-prose.html

A Purple prose contest is a literary contest that includes creative language that is very flowery, romantic and tries to involve the reader emotionally. Although love scene parodies remain the most frequent of entries, the contest is derived from the Roman Poet Horace (Quintus Horatius Flaccus) who lived 65 - 8 BC and wrote his Ars Poetica. Cary, mentioned above, must have been a flowery, romantic, creative writer.