About

The Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop

The Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop has been dubbed the “Woodstock of Humor.” Another writer described it as a “utopia” for writers — one “that only appears every other year, out of the mist, on the edge of the Great Miami River in Dayton, Ohio (like Brigadoon).”

The University of Dayton held the first workshop in 2000 as a one-time event to commemorate the Bombeck family’s gift of Erma’s papers to her alma mater. Erma’s famous friends — columnist Art Buchwald, “Family Circus” cartoonist Bil Keane, and author and ERA advocate Liz Carpenter — headlined the event. The workshop was so successful – and so much fun – that the university decided to continue it, reconvening every other year.

Today, the event has grown immensely popular with writers across the nation and sells out within hours. Inspired by Erma’s humor and humanity, writers gather to laugh and learn from the likes of Dave Barry, Adriana Trigiani, Phil Donahue, Nancy Cartwright, Don Novello, Roy Blount Jr., Gail Collins, Alan Zweibel, Lisa Scottoline and other celebrated humorists.

The workshop’s mission is simple: to encourage and inspire writers in the same way Erma Bombeck found encouragement and inspiration at the University of Dayton.

Its mantra is timeless: “You can write!”

Erma Bombeck

Erma Bombeck is one of America’s most celebrated humorists. She achieved extraordinary fame as a syndicated newspaper columnist by chronicling the absurdities of ordinary suburban family life with wit and wisdom.

“My idea of housework,” she wrote, “is to sweep the room with a glance.”

At her height of popularity, 900 newspapers carried her column, nine out of her 12 books landed on the New York Times’ bestseller list, and she appeared regularly on “Good Morning America” as part of the original cast. A champion for women’s rights, she stumped tirelessly for the Equal Rights Amendment.

Born in Dayton, Ohio, on Feb. 21, 1927, she graduated from the University of Dayton in 1949. An English professor encouraged her to write humor — and changed her life with three magic words: “You can write!”

Erma died from complications of a kidney transplant on April 22, 1996, but her legacy endures.

“Her words won her the permanent place of honor in American life: the refrigerator door,” syndicated columnist Ellen Goodman wrote after her death. Former neighbor and legendary talk show host Phil Donahue eulogized, “When the scholars gather hundreds of years from now to learn about us, they can’t know it all if they don’t read Erma.”

Our Sponsors

Thanks to a generous gift from the Bombeck family and in-kind support from the Marriott at the University of Dayton, the Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop offers two emerging humor writers the opportunity to take a deep dive into their comedy writing without pesky everyday responsibilities.

The program is the brainchild of Anna Lefler, who funded its launch in 2017 and the early years of its operation. She’s a Los Angeles-based author of two funny books, Preschooled and The Chicktionary, and a three-time workshop faculty member.