Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop

Dayton, You Complete Me

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

Finding Comedy in a Hotel Room

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

Swaddle Me in Terry Cloth

“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

Paying It Forward

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

Suit Up!

Take a look at who’s suiting up to serve as preliminary judges. We have lined up dozens of remarkable authors, bloggers and humorists 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 for final judging… Read More

You Had Me at Room Service!

“A green jacket might be appealing if you’re a golfer but, if you’re a writer who barely goes outside, what could be better than being awarded a hotel room of your own?” That’s how Lois Alter Mark of Forbes describes what “may be the best writer’s residency in the country,” A Hotel Room of One’s… Read More