Writers from the Erma community will be prominently featured in Fast Forbidden Women, an anthology of 75 flash nonfiction essays, which will be published by Woodhall Press in fall 2027.
“The submissions from Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop attendees were everything I had hoped for,” said Bonnie Jean Feldkamp, co-editor of the anthology and a columnist for Creators Syndicate. “I especially appreciated how brave each writer was when sharing her story. Hard truths in a forbidden world make for vulnerable writing.
“And as Erma said, ‘It takes a lot of courage to show your dreams to someone else.’”
Contributors from the Erma community include (in alphabetical order):
Beth Broderick
Barbara Cooley
Lori Duff
Cindy Eastman
Ivy Eisenberg
Barbara Fant
Janine Frank
Bliss Goldstein
Sarah Hunt
Karen Jaffe
Angie Klink
Jule Kucera
Leighann Lord
Shannon Shelton Miller
Marcy O'Brien
Teri Rizvi
Sherry Shealy
Suzette Martinez Standring
Natasha Strange
The anthology’s connection to the Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop runs deep. Author and illustrator Elly Lonon, winner of Pitchapalooza at the 2016 workshop, will create the cover art. The collection is co-edited by Gina Barreca and Feldkamp, who first met at the 2012 workshop where Barreca served as a keynote speaker.
When Feldkamp invited submissions from Erma attendees at the 2026 workshop, the response exceeded her expectations.
“The essays I received were so good that I was even able to earmark eight additional essays for the next book planned in the Fast Women series,” she said.
Fast Forbidden Women is the fifth themed collection in the Fast Women series. The books amplify women’s voices through personal stories by celebrated and emerging authors.