At 10pm on Friday May 3rd, following on from the opening of this year’s festival by Senator Catherine Noone, and readings by Vona Groarke and Nerys Williams in Strokestown Park House, the prize giving for the 2013 Percy French Prize for Comic poetry will take place in the Percy French Hotel. In what promises to be a high-spirited event, this year’s judge comedian and actor Eleanor Tiernan will be our host, offering an insight into the process of creating the shortlist and an account of what the world looks like through the lens of the comic poetry entries received from around the world this year. The shortlisted poems will then be read aloud, after which the awards will be announced, with a first prize of €500 and the title of Percy French Comic Poet of the Year going to the overall winner.

The following is the shortlist for the 2013 Percy French Prize for Comic Poetry:

Christopher North for ‘Eurythmy Artiste with Toque.’ To read the poem click here.

Samantha Strachen for ‘Ideal.’ To read the poem click here.

Tony Walton for ‘On the Trail with the Sundance Kid and Mr Keats.’

Mike Absalom for ‘The Goal of a Mole.’ To read the poem click here.

Margaret Hickey for ‘The Arithmetic of Love.’ To read the poem click here.

Joao Morais for ‘Oedipus Rex.’ To read the poem click here.