Drumroll! Introducing Preliminary Judges

We have lined up nearly 50 top-notch preliminary judges to review and rank the entries in “A Hotel Room of One’s Own: The Erma Bombeck | Anna Lefler Humorist-in-Residence Program.” The judges, all established writers, will narrow the field to 10 funny writers for judging by Pulitzer Prize-winning humorist Dave Barry and best-selling novelist Adriana Trigiani. All… Read More

A Hotel Room Along the Dayton Riviera

“I haven’t slept in 12 years,” one beleaguered writer started her application. And this realization from another hopeful writer, “You had me at room service.” The University of Dayton’s Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop is once again offering two emerging humor writers the opportunity to compete for an all-expenses-paid trip to Dayton, Ohio, where the winners… Read More

Do Not Disturb!

If Maya Angelou and Ernest Hemingway regularly wrote in hotels, there must be some literary magic to be found in a room with a “Do Not Disturb” sign. The Marriott at the University of Dayton has partnered with the Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop to provide complimentary hotel rooms as part of a package for two… Read More

Comedy Legends

Pulitzer Prize-winning humorist Dave Barry and best-selling novelist Adriana Trigiani will select two emerging humor writers for an unconventional writing residency that promises winners the gift of time to hole up in a hotel, write — and order free room service. Barry and Trigiani, who’ve written more than 50 books between them, will serve as… Read More

17 Quiet Days to Write

You know you’ve been in a hotel a long time when you start making your own bed. You know you’ve been in a hotel a really long time when Michael, the creepy morning room-service guy, notices you’ve changed your order. “I see you’ve got bacon this morning,” he says, making me shudder. “You are really… Read More

A View from a Hotel Room of One’s Own

Karen Chee and Samantha Schoech, winners of an unconventional two-week residency for emerging humor writers, ventured out of their hotel rooms to offer some serious advice to students in a media writing class at the University of Dayton. “Being funny is not trying to be funny. It’s being observant,” Schoech, a writer and editor from… Read More