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ERMA BOMBECK WRITERS' WORKSHOP NEWSLETTER
University of Dayton
February 2007
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Dear writer:
Art Buchwald spoke at the 2002 Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop. The title of his speech
was, "Things I cannot tell you." I still have an autographed picture of him on my desk, right
next to Erma's.
While Art Buchwald was an incredibly talented and prolific writer, I think the biggest thing he
gave us was a lesson in dying. Art made people laugh right up to the end of his life. Even his
video obit in the New York Times is funny. In it, Art quips, "Hi, I'm Art Buchwald and I just
died."
I've compiled a list of interesting stories and items about Art below. Enjoy them,
and remember that Art thought he was put on earth to make people laugh. Maybe you were,
too.
Keep writing!
Tim Bete
author of In The Beginning...There Were No Diapers
director, Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop, University of Dayton
Latest news...
STORIES ABOUT ART BUCHWALD...
OTHER NEWS...
GET YOUR COPY OF THE ERMA DOCUMENTARY
For a $100 donation to ThinkTV, you can get a DVD of the documentary, Erma Bombeck: A Legacy of Laugher. Read more.
WHEN IT COMES TO BEING FUNNY, CONAN O'BRIEN CAN'T HELP HIMSELF
From the moment Conan O'Brien walks onto the set of his late-night talk show, it's clear he's a geek. Read more.
ERMA WRITING CONTEST
The due date for this year's Erma Bombeck Writing Competition is February 18, 2007. Read more.
JEWISH HUMOR PUSHES LIMITS ON STEROTYPES
In the last generation, Jewish humor has become part of mainstream American comedy, achieving an acceptance that allows some of the brightest stars, from Jon Stewart to Jerry Seinfeld, to be open about their identity in their work, something Milton Berle and others of his era were less inclined to do. Read more.
YEAR OF VONNEGUT
Indianapolis has declared 2007 "The Year of Vonnegut" in honor of native son Kurt Vonnegut, whose latest book was just released. Read more.
GOOGLE OPENS DIALOGUE WITH BOOK PUBLISHERS
To anyone who thinks digital content is a threat to the book-publishing market, Google wants to tell you two things: first, you're wrong; second, its Google Book Search product is the solution, not the problem. Read more.
HUMOR ARTICLE LEADS TO CONVICTION OF 2 IN MOROCCO
A Moroccan court convicted a magazine editor and a reporter on charges of defamation for printing heard-on-the-street jokes about religion and politics. Read more.
WILL ROGERS WRITERS' WORKSHOP
Don't miss the fun in Oklahoma City, March 15-18, 2007 at the Renaissance Convention Center. Writers from 21 states have signed up and registrations are still being accepted. Read more.
Humor writer of the month
JOEL SCHWARTZBERG
Joel Schwartzberg has been published in The (NJ) Star-Ledger, and is the humor columnist for a the New York City magazine, City Scoops. He also has a weekly column in the News-Record of Maplewood and South Orange (NJ). A former Nickelodeon Online producer and head writer, law school dropout, and doomed Wheel-of-Fortune contestant, Joel founded the TIME For Kids Web site in 2000, and served as Editorial Director for Time Inc. Interactive until 2004. He is currently Senior Producer, New Media, for NOW on PBS. In his free time, Joel likes to eat, breathe, and watch things move. Visit his Web site.
Book giveaway
Each month we give away a book on writing to a few subscribers to our newsletter. If you're subscribed, you're entered to win! This issue's winners are:
* Janis Nichols
* Candice Parker
* Holly Johnson
Each has won a copy of Book Proposals That Sell by Terry Whalin.
Who's publishing what?
WORKSHOP FACULTY
CARTWRIGHT LEARNS TO DRIVE: Nancy Cartwright,the voice of Bart Simpson, was trained and tested for her NASCAR drivers license at Irwindale Raceway in Southern California. Nancy is the voice of Chip Kelly from the animated series, "The Kellys." She's also the show's executive producer.
STARS CONFESS TO KONIGS: Celebrities confess to Dave & Susan Konig on their hit radio show "Speak Now Or Forever Hold Your Peace!" Richard Simmons: "Did you know I'm Catholic? I've been a practicing Catholic since I was 15, I have a collection of baby Jesus figurines!" Tony Danza: "I'm still a little beat up about my talk show -- I just admitted that to you for the first time -- but starring in a Broadway musical is a nice band-aid. They're putting my picture up at Sardi's!" "Speak Now Or Forever Hold Your Peace!" airs Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to noon EST, on The Catholic Channel Sirius 159. Listen to audio highlights.
LIEBER HAS NEW SITE: Dave Lieber's new Web site is up and running. The site includes his new video column.
GRUEN MAKES TRIB: One of Judy Gruen's recent columns, 'I'm not messy, I'm a genius," was published in the Chicago Tribune.
PREZ HUMOR: Liz Carpenter has published Presidential Humor: For Candidates, Speechwriters, and Voters, Preachers, Housewives, Janitors, Hecklers and Other Political Types.
PAST WORKSHOP ATTENDEES
GARFINKLE HITS TRIFECTA: Debby Garfinkle's humorous young adult novel, Storky: How I Lost My Nickname and Won the Girl, will be published in paperback by Penguin/Putnam in March. Her humorous young adult novel, Stuck in the '70s, will be published by Penguin/Putnam in May. And the first book of her trilogy, The Band, about the rocky romances and rising careers of five teenagers in a rock band, will be published by Penguin/Berkley in May.
GALLAGHER TAKES REDEYE: Danny Gallagher had two essays published in RedEye, an edition of the Chicago Tribune.
BROWN IN SOUP: Stephanie Ray Brown 's story, "Love has No Borders," was selected to be included in Chicken Soup for New Mom's Soul.
IN STITCHES: Kathy Wooton had her essay, "A Doctor's Guide to Your Loved One's Menopause," accepted by Stitches, the Canadian Journal of Medical Humor.
BRENNAN BELTS TRIPLE: Angie Brennan's humor was recently published in McSweeney's Internet Tendency, Inside Annapolis and the Crofton News-Crier.
VAN OSTRAND'S ONLINE: Maggie Van Ostrand had three articles in www.frugalfun.com, an ezine devoted to living, traveling, and eating first class on steerage prices.
FOR THE BIRDS: Lynette Sheffield's book, They Still Drop Turkeys at KTWS in Bend , Oregon, was a finalist in the Humor category of the Best Books 2006 National Book Awards.
BULL IN A CHINA SHOP: Marti Lawrence has published Queen Klutz--The Misadventures of a Very Clumsy Woman, a book with 40 of her humorous essays. She also has a new blog.
OTHER PUBLISHING NEWS
BIBLE HUMOR: David Peters has published The Many Faces of Biblical Humor: A Compendium of the Most Delightful, Romantic, Humorous, Ironic, Sarcastic, or Pathetically Funny Stories in Scripture.
Markets, contests and more
HUMOR PRIZE: The 8th Annual Mona Schreiber Prize for Humorous Fiction and Nonfiction is open for entries. Writers of comedic stories, articles, essays, poems, songs, plays, hate letters and other forms beyond description (but not comprehension) are encouraged to enter. Read more.
WERGLE FLOMP: The 6th Annual Wergle Flomp Humor Poetry Contest seeks the best humor poem that has been sent to a "vanity poetry contest" as a joke. Cash prizes totaling $3,336.40 will be awarded, up from $1,609 last year. Read more.
IN THE SOUP: The Chicken Soup Family is preparing a serving especially for the Twenty-Something Soul and American Idol Lover's Soul, and they're looking for stories. For each story selected to be published in the books, a 50-word biography will be included about the author and a permission fee of $200 will be paid. Read more.
ISHS IN NEWPORT: The 2007 Intl. Soc. of Humor Studies (ISHS) Conference will be held at Salve Regina University in Newport, Rhode Island from June 28 to July 1, 2007. Read more.
BYLINES CALENDAR: Now accepting submissions for the Bylines 2008 Writers Desk Calendar. Serious writers who have been published and paid for their work are invited to submit an entry. Read more.
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NETWORK WITH OTHER HUMOR WRITERS: Network with other humor writers. Join the e-mail discussion group for past attendees of the Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop and those who would like to attend in the future. Join now.
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SUGGEST A RESOURCE: If you have a favorite book or Web site, let us know at bete@udayton.edu.
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Copyright 2007, University of Dayton
