Nominations announced for Thurber humor prize

NEW YORK (AP) — A sportswriter, an essayist and a playwright-comedian are this year’s finalists for the Thurber Prize for American Humor.

Mike Birbiglia has been nominated for a Thurber Prize

Mike Birbiglia was nominated for “Sleepwalk With Me and Other Painfully True Stories.” It was developed from his one-man show.

David Rakoff was cited for the collection “Half Empty.” His essays have appeared everywhere from Vogue to Wired.

Rick Reilly was nominated for “Sports from Hell: My Search for the World’s Dumbest Competition.”

The nominations were announced Monday by Thurber House, based in Columbus, Ohio. First prize is $5,000.

The award was founded in 1997 in honor of humorist James Thurber. Previous winners include Jon Stewart, David Sedaris and Christopher Buckley.