The Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop has been dubbed the "Woodstock of Humor" and 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 workshop's mission is simple: to encourage and inspire writers in the same way that celebrated columnist and author Erma Bombeck '49 found encouragement and inspiration at the University of Dayton.
Its mantra is timeless: "You can write!"
This collection is an archive of the Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop blog, which delivers news about the workshop, information for writers, profiles of Humor Writer of the Month honorees, and writing by participants and faculty of the workshop.
View the latest entries on the blog website.
Submissions from 2024
Fowl Play, Jerry Zezima
Who's Publishing What: Christopher Bennett and the Mystic Beetle, Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop
Who's Publishing What: Do I Know You?, Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop
Who's Publishing What: I Will Not Be Ignored, Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop
A Thank-You Letter to Erma Bombeck, Susan C. Willett
No Fly Zone, Jerry Zezima
Living to Be 100, Dean Norman
We Met at a Bar ... an American Love Story, Diane Dean-Epps
Humor Writer of the Month: Nancy Crochiere, Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop
A (Hotel) Room of My Own, Annmarie Kelly
Emotional Eclipses and Pilgrimages, Pam Sherman
The Woodstock of Writers' Workshops, Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop
Oompa Loompa Hair at the Erma Bombeck Writer's Workshop, Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop
You're So Vein, Jerry Zezima
Return to Zumba: or My Daughter's Wedding is Making Me Shake, Nancy Crochiere
The Erma Experience, Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop
Au Revoir, Dayton, Kara Kinney Cartwright
There Will No Longer Be Chocolate Cake At Every Meal, Kris Downey
Erma Bombeck Made Me Do It, Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop
Another Fine Mess, Jerry Zezima
No Tremors or Totality, but Still, Lots of Wonder, Cara McDonough
Insights, Laughter and Lessons Learned, Amber Shaw
Lord of the Flies, As Replayed in My Dining Room, Renee Burns Lonner
Short, Tight and Impressionable, Renee Johnson
Really, Erma Made Me Do It, Robin Raniero Norris
Rub-a-Dub-Dub, No Men in the Tub, Jerry Zezima
Happy Campers, January Ornellas
Laughing Matters, John Branning
Erma One-Word Review, Jamy May Wagner
Keep Writing, Laughing and Believing, Wade Rouse
Outpatient Decluttering, Jase Graves
Thanks for the Muscle Memory, Jerry Zezima
What If No Moon?, Dean Norman
For Erma: when the real writers come back home, Barbara Fant
Humor Writer of the Month: Elissa Bassist, Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop
House Calls, Jerry Zezima
Giving Birth to a Book Isn't for Wimps, Marcy O'Brien
Mr. Eli, Teri Rizvi
The Prince of Paint, Jerry Zezima
The Diamond's in the Details, Jerry Zezima
Come On Down!, Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop
I Didn't Want to Eat the Easter Bunny, Dean Norman
And the Oscar Goes To..., Donna Fentanes
I Got COVID when COVID Wasn't Cool., Jase Graves
Every Pun Intended, Jerry Zezima
Peevie Steevie, Steve Eskew
The Last OG Gen X Mom Pleads Her Case, Jessica Miller
Naked and Frantic, Karen Iseminger
Downward Facing What?, Matt Landig
What's In a Name?, Nancy Mink
The Curse of the Zezbino, Jerry Zezima
Like Mother, Unlike Daughter, Joan Harris
Can We Put the Fun in Funeral?, Julie Cole
Humor Writer of the Month: Lori Jakiela, Lori Jakiela
Goldilocks, Mary Sullivan
A Night of Hilarity, Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop
Caught on Camera, Annette Goggin
45 is the New... 45, Cara McDonough
More Like My Mother, Ruth Supko Owens
The Bicycle Chain, Susan Ross
Sacrifice, Margie Carroll Wehner
The Paisley Trove, Jillian Van Hefty
Nesting Dolls of Motherhood, Vincent O'Keefe
Naked and Unafraid, Bev Potter
Becoming a Swiftie Dad — and other skills I've learned, Jase Graves
Erma Made Me Do It!, Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop
Not Exactly Fast Food, Jerry Zezima
The Oak's on Me, Jerry Zezima
A Good Day's Work, Lindsey Roth
Funeral Notes, Charla Schafer
Pride Goeth Before the Fall Parent–Teacher Conference, Aline Pusecker Taylor
You Can Write!, Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop
Heart and Sole, Marcy O'Brien
The World's Greatest Inventions, Jase Graves
Leave It to Geezer, Jerry Zezima
The Fun of Faxing, Dean Norman
Erma's Got Talent, Season Three, Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop
Driving Course Is an Auto Motive, Jerry Zezima
Tell Your Story, Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop
Humor Writer of the Month: Jane Condon, Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop
When Memory Flails, Jase Graves
Calendar Guy, Jerry Zezima
Experience Erma — For Free, Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop
You Can Write, Too!, Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop
Bon Appétit, Kristine Hayes Nibler
My 70s Show, Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop
How to Write Funny, John Branning
How I Became a Cat Person, Jase Graves
Pitch An Agent, Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop
The Root of the Problem, Jerry Zezima
Beyond the Byline, Teri Rizvi
Late to Work, Dean Norman
Keeping My Eyes on the Road, Jerry Zezima
Erma's Got Talent, Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop
Setting Those Goals, C. Hope Clark
My New Year's Anti-Resolutions, Jase Graves
Humor Writer of the Month: Lou Clyde, Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop
Submissions from 2023
Just Doordash Erma, Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop
Who's Publishing What: The Weight We Carry, Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop
Who's Publishing What: Happy Wife, Happy Life, Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop
