Limerick bringing the funny five-line format home

Limerick City’s poetry competition wants to bring the funny five-line format home. Must it be vulgar? asks Jonathan deBurca Butler

AS part of next week’s Tailteann Nua Festival, the University of Limerick is holding a poetry competition highlighting the city’s most famous literary export, the five-line ‘limerick’ poem.

The ‘Bring your Limerick to Limerick’ competition is bringing the five-line format poem back to its (alleged) place of origin. This is in association with The Limerick Writers’ Centre, who run all-Ireland ‘limerick’ competitions. The organiser, Lisa Gibbons, says that this year’s festival has an international flavour.