Blogs

The 2022 Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop inspired Kim Weitkamp to commit to writing her first book. Desiree Miller came to “find my funny” and left with lifelong bonds and a humorous book idea that she floated past a publisher.

Not wanting to lose the warmth, laughter and inspiration of the weekend, Kathy Shiels Tully pulled together a playlist on Spotify. John Branning wrote an amusing piece about procrastination. Patricia Wynn Brown regaled readers with a side-splitting tale of taking the Bombeck family to the Columbus airport in her undersized Beetle.

First-time attendee January Gordon Ornellas created an Erma Bingo game. One entry: “You don’t respond to texts for three days because PEOPLE, I’M AT ERMA.”

Others wrote humorous, heartfelt essays that captured the spirit of our first in-person workshop in four years.

“Every person at this workshop left with a heart filled with joy and gratitude,” wrote Sherry Stanfa-Stanley. “Erma once wrote, ‘Seize the moment. Remember all those women on the Titanic who waved off the dessert cart.’ Few of us at the Erma workshop waved off dessert last weekend. And we sure as hell seized every single magical moment, blurry as they each may now seem.”

In all, writers shared dozens of pieces inspired by the workshop:

Finding a Flower in the Desert by Amy Abbott (Post and Mail) 

The Energizer Funny by John Branning (Medium)

Within Written Distance by John Branning

Where Goes Ohio by Beth Broderick:

Mea Culpa by Patricia Wynn Brown 

Ginger’s Smile by Ginger Claremohr

Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop 2022: Plus One to Paradise by Michelle Combs 

There and Back Again by Cindy Eastman 

When the Cockpit Speaks by Janie Emaus 

An Unforgettable Weekend by Sandra Fortier 

I’d Like to Introduce You to Some Wonderful Women by Ann Garvin

Op, Sorry by Rachel Grise

Tiny Victories podcast by Annabelle Gurwitch (starts at 12-minute mark)

Erma and Me by Celeste Conner King, inaugural recipient of the DC Stanfa Memorial Writers’ Award

The Writers’ Lost and Found by Renee Burns Lonner 

A Look Around: Erma Bombeck and Imposter Syndrome by Paige Mengel (The Greeneville Sun) 

Finding My Funny at the Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop by Des Miller

What Do a Secret Illustration, Meeting an Idol and Chocolate Cake Have in Common? by Eva Lesko Natiello 

Erma Bingo by January Gordon Ornellas

Who ARE You? by January Gordon Ornellas

Dayton, You Complete Me by Mary Oves, 2022 humorist-in-residence

To Bee or Not to Bee by Mary Oves, 2022 humorist-in-residence

The Haunted Residency by Mary Oves, 2022 humorist-in-residence

Stand-Up Virgin by Linda B. Parker 

A Weekend with Erma by Shravanth Reddy Reddy (University of Dayton Magazine)

The Gift of Time (and a Bathrobe) by Teri Rizvi 

When You Look Like Your Passport Photo, It’s Time to Go Home by Dorothy Rosby (Rapid City Journal)

I Cried At Erma Bombeck's Grave by Amber McClain Shaw

Seizing Every Single Magical Moment by Sherry Stanfa-Stanley

Write (But First, Dance) by Kathy Shiels Tully 

Dear Erma by Jillian Van Hefty, 2022 humorist-in-residence 

Why I'll Never Be Cathy Guisewite by Cynthia Washam

I’m Scared and It Feels Good by Kim Weitkamp