The Erma Bombeck Writing Competition is hosted every two years by the University of Dayton and the Washington-Centerville Public Library in Centerville, Ohio, where Erma wrote the books and columns that launched her national fame. Over the years, the contest has drawn thousands of hopeful entries, submissions inspired by Erma Bombeck’s humor and humanity.
Online entries for the 2020 competition will be accepted Dec. 2, 2019 – Jan. 6, 2020.
Capture the essence of Erma’s writings, and you could win $1,000 and a free registration to the Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop. In 2018, 657 writers from around the world entered previously unpublished essays in humor and human interest categories — roughly 295,650 words.
Two prolific authors — Bill Bryson and Jess Montgomery — will serve as finalist judges for the
humor and human interest categories, respectively. The nearly 60 preliminary judges will include nationally known authors, columnists, screenwriters and stand-up comedians.
None other than Betsy Bombeck, Erma’s daughter, will keynote the 7 p.m. awards presentation on April Fool’s Day at the Woodbourne Library, 6060 Far Hills Ave. The ceremony is free and open to the public, but space is limited. To RSVP, click here.
To read the 2018 winning entries, click here.
