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E. J. Thribb (17½) has been the fictitious poet-in-residence at the satirical magazine Private Eye since 1972; the poems are in reality written by Barry Fantoni. Thribb's poems are usually about recently deceased famous people, and titled 'in memoriam', with the first line almost invariably reading: "So. Farewell then...".

Thribb usually mentions the deceased's catchphrase or theme song, and his poems often feature his friend Keith, or Keith's mum, who is usually "like" the deceased in some way.

Thribb's 'poetry' is characterised by a stream of consciousness which is broken up into short lines seemingly at random, and has very little rhyme, rhythm or reason.

Thribb always signs his poems with his age – 17½ – although sometimes this will be modified to refer to another thing for which the deceased is famous. He sometimes signs himself E Jarvis Thribb.

[edit] External links

• Private Eye
• Thribb Poems at PoemHunter.com