After decades of being housed at the Washington-Centerville Public Library, the Erma Bombeck Writing Competition is beginning a new chapter at the University of Dayton.
The writing contest, which attracts entries from around the world, will now be sponsored by the Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop in UD’s English department. Since 2000, the competition has been held every two years in collaboration with the workshop.
For the past 18 years, the competition has been managed by Debe Dockins as part of her responsibilities as the library’s executive coordinator. With her upcoming retirement, she will now co-direct the competition with Adam Williams, a UD faculty member who teaches creative writing and poetry and serves as an adviser to Orpheus, a student literary magazine. Both are members of the all-volunteer planning committee for the popular workshop.
“We’re grateful to the Washington-Centerville Library for making the Erma Bombeck Writing Competition such an amazing opportunity for writers in our community and across the nation and globe,” said Teri Rizvi, founder and co-director.
“As the workshop now takes on the responsibility of running the competition, it feels like a natural next step for a program we have valued and supported for many years. We are honored to help carry it forward and so appreciative that Debe will continue to help run it.”
In addition to the Erma Bombeck Writing Competition, Dockins has coordinated a teen writing contest and, during her tenure at the library, built an extensive network of judges, including authors, poets, creative writing teachers and columnists.
Williams, a poet, holds a master’s degree in creative writing from NYU and a master’s degree in English from the University of New Hampshire. Dockins, who has a strong background in marketing, graduated from Murray State University with a bachelor’s degree in journalism and public relations.
The next competition runs Dec. 7, 2027-Jan. 11, 2028. Four first-place winners — one in each local and global category of humor and human-interest writing — will receive a $1,000 cash prize, free registration to the March 30-April 1, 2028, Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop and publication of their essays online and in the workshop program.
A select number of honorable mentions will be awarded $100 and online publication.