The Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop has been dubbed the “Woodstock of Humor.” Another writer describes 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 of Dayton decided to continue it, reconvening every other year.

The three-day event has grown immensely popular with writers across the nation and sells out quickly. Inspired by Erma’s humor and humanity, writers gather to laugh and learn from the likes of Dave Barry, Anna Quindlen, Phil Donahue, Cathy Guisewite, Art Buchwald, Nancy Cartwright, Don Novello, Gail Collins, Connie Schultz, Roy Blount Jr., Mike and Peggy Rowe, Lisa Scottoline, Liza Donnelly, Amy Ephron, Laraine Newman and Alan Zweibel, among other celebrated writers and cartoonists.

It is the only conference in the country devoted to both humor and human interest writing. Through the workshop, the University of Dayton and the Bombeck family honor one of America’s most celebrated storytellers and humorists. In 2019, The Writer magazine named it he best writing conference in Ohio and “THE conference for humor writers.”

We also offer virtual programs, host competitions and provide awards to writers with financial need — all in the spirit of helping aspiring and established writers improve their craft.

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

Our mantra is timeless: “You can write!”