Capture the essence of Erma's writings and you could win $1,000 and a free registration to the Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop to be held March 24-26, 2022 at the University of Dayton! Honorable mentions will receive $100.
Erma Bombeck, graduated from the University of Dayton in 1949, lived with her husband and family in Centerville, Ohio, and inspired people worldwide with her columns and books about life's trials and tribulations. Her memory lives on with the Erma Bombeck Writing Competition hosted every two years by the Washington-Centerville Public Library and the Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop hosted by the University of Dayton.
Final Judges Max Pross and Susan Pohlman
The Library is proud to announce that Max Pross, an Emmy Award-winning producer and writer known for The Simpsons, Seinfeld and Late Night with David Letterman, and Susan Pohlman, a memoirist who writes with grace and vulnerability, will serve as finalist judges for the 2022 Erma Bombeck Writing Competition.
For more information or questions about this competition, please call Debe Dockins, Community Outreach Specialist, at 937-610-4429 or send an email to: ddockins@wclibrary.info.
November 30, 2021 (8 AM EST): Erma Bombeck Writing Competition Opens
December 9, 2021 (noon): U.D. Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop Registration Opens
January 4, 2022 (8 PM EST): Erma Bombeck Writing Competition Closes
January 6, 2022 through mid-February: Erma Bombeck Writing Competition Judging
Week of February 14, 2022: (projected) Winners Announced
March 23, 2022 (7 PM EDT, 6 Central, 5 Mountain, 4 Pacific): Virtual Erma Awards Ceremony & Keynote Speakers
October 20 - 22, 2022: U.D. Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop (Rescheduled)
View The Erma Bombeck Collection video which premiered at the March 2022 Erma Bombeck Writing Competition Awards Ceremony. It's a glimpse of the treasure that's in the Erma Bombeck Collection in the University of Dayton's archives. #ebww2022
A personal essay "deals lightly, often humorously, with personal experiences, opinions, and prejudices, stressing especially the unusual or novel in attitude and having to do with the various aspects of everyday life." ˜Phillip Lopate, The Art of the Personal Essay.
This year's winners of the Erma Bombeck Writing Competition are in for a special celebration. Keynote speakers Cindy Ratzlaff and Kathy Kinney will share their life's philosophy: a state of mind, Queen Of Your Own Life(tm), is about the practice of happiness and the simple actions we all can take to claim a life of joy and adventure. "It takes a lot of courage to show your dreams to someone else." - Erma Bombeck
Keynote Speakers Cindy Ratzlaff and Kathy Kinney
Cindy Ratzlaff is a 30-year veteran of the book publishing industry, having held executive positions at Rodale Inc. and Simon & Schuster and created and implemented the launch campaigns for more than 150 New York Times bestsellers. She also is an author through both traditional and self-publishing. Cindy's articles on business topics and happiness have been published on BusinessInsider.com, Oprah.com, CNN.com and other national publications. She speaks internationally on personal branding, marketing strategies, social media community building, marketing platforms and campaign building. Forbes named her one of the Top Women Entrepreneurs to Follow on Twitter, and Ad Age named her to the Advertising Age Marketing 50 list in 2003 for her work on launching The South Beach Diet brand. Cindy is the co-author, along with her friend Kathy Kinney, of three books, Queen of Your Own Life: The Grown-up Woman's Guide to Claiming Happiness and Getting the Life You Deserve; Queenisms: 101 Jolts of Inspiration; and Queen of Your Own Life: If Not Now, When? Together, they host a popular Facebook Live Check-In at 3 p.m. (EST) on Thursdays, an outreach that started during the pandemic.
Kathy Kinney, who may be known best for her role as Mimi on the hit ABC series The Drew Carey Show, has appeared in dozens of TV shows and movies. She is the co-author, along with her friend Cindy Ratzlaff, of three books, Queen of Your Own Life: The Grown-up Woman's Guide to Claiming Happiness and Getting the Life You Deserve; Queenisms: 101 Jolts of Inspiration; and Queen of Your Own Life: If Not Now, When? Together, they host a popular Facebook Live Check-In at 3 p.m. (EST) on Thursdays, an outreach that started during the pandemic. Kathy is the star and co-producer of the children's website MrsP.com, which promotes creativity, literacy and the joy of reading. With a background in improvisational comedy, she has performed extensively in Las Vegas at the MGM Grand, Caesars Palace and the Mirage with Drew Carey and the Improv All-Star. She also has performed on tours with the USO in Saudi Arabia, Iraq and the Persian Gulf.