Dear Erma, I once met a woman whose #1 bucket list item was to see the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile in person. Tears streamed down her face as I snapped her photo in front of it. Some people might dream of living in Paris, or owning a 1965 Shelby Mustang, or doing the Lord’s work and… Read More
Kristen Mulrooney spent seven years “writing in 10-minute increments” around caring for three young children. What could she do with some alone time? In the last two weeks she wrote 75,000 words — the first draft of a humorous novel — in a hotel room in Dayton, Ohio. As one of three 2022 grand prize… Read More
When I board my flight home on Sunday, I will have been in Dayton, Ohio for 18 days. The longest stretch of time I have ever been away from home, international travel included. It’s been enough time. Enough time to harbor an unhealthy obsession with one particularly beautiful maple tree in Carillon Park. Enough time… Read More
Humorist-in-Residence Winners Named Jillian Van Hefty yearns to temporarily “abandon” her family to tackle a compilation of humorous letters from a spunky housewife bemused by life’s absurdities to the late Erma Bombeck. The book’s working title: Dear Erma: Do Emotional Support Llamas Need Tuxedos? Kristen Mulrooney, “an accidental stay-at-home mom,” would love to be cloistered… Read More
“Let’s face it: I’d rejoice if I had a wobbly table in a leaky cabin all to myself for two weeks,” one writer wrote in a pitch to be selected for A Hotel Room of One’s Own: The Erma Bombeck | Anna Lefler Humorist-in-Residence Program. “Virginia Woolf believed that access to a room of one’s… Read More
Exciting news, writers! The Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop is adding a third grand prize for this year’s Humorist-in-Residence competition — thanks to Second City’s Liz Kozak, a grand prize winner in 2020. In her words: “After I was honored with the 2020 residency, a lot of things happened to me very quickly: I published my first… Read More
