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ERMA BOMBECK WRITERS' WORKSHOP NEWSLETTER
University of Dayton
October/November 2008
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Dear writer:
Two candidates told us this fall that change was coming. What they didn’t say was that they were really talking about the Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop. As some of you know, longtime workshop director Tim Bete has moved from a part-time to a full-time position with St. Mary Development Corp., a nonprofit that creates and manages housing for low-income seniors and working families. It’s an organization in whose mission he strongly believes. Moving to full time means a decrease in much of his freelance work, including that with the Erma Bombeck Writers’ Workshop.
So, Tim asked your humble narrator to step in. Tim is an enormous help to me as I move into the workshop director’s role and we begin planning the next workshop, scheduled for April 2010. I met Tim when I joined the communications staff at Erma Bombeck’s alma mater, the University of Dayton, in 2002. I’ve been a frequent workshop attendee and pitched in behind the scenes as Tim put past conferences together. In my Clark Kent day job, I’m a writer and editor for UD’s alumni publications. Once upon a time, I thought I'd get a Ph.D. in Irish lit., but all kinds of funny things happened there. You can reach me at erma@udayton.edu.
Tim isn’t vanishing. He plans to be at the 2010 workshop “in a role,” he writes, “that allows me to spend more time with attendees and hit the bar a bit earlier.”
So, chances are, you’ll actually see more of Tim at the next workshop. That’s change I think we can all believe in.
Matthew Dewald
Workshop director
From Erma’s desk...
“When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, ‘I used everything you gave me.’”
Latest news…
AND THE WINNERS ARE
National Society of Newspaper Columnists announced the Will Rogers Writing Contest winners:
First place: Wyoming author Richard J. Maturi for his essay, "Dateline: Point Barrow," a commentary on the current political season.
Second place: Joel Fry of Wichita, Kan., who submitted a series of briefs written in the form of "Will Rogers Telegrams."
Third place: Jeannie Cale of Pryor, Okla., who channeled Rogers to report on the Democratic and Republican parties' conventions.
MORE WINNERS
LIGHT A CANDLE BY CURSING THE DARKNESS
TUNE IN TOMORROW
BUT WILL IT PLAY IN THE POCONOS?
Jeffrey Gurian was part of the writing team at a recent Friars’ Club celebrity roast for charity. He gives a peek behind the curtain.
ROOKIE MISTAKES
Self-publishing authors often make them; self-publishing veteran Judy Cullins offers five to avoid.
NOW BOARDING...
In his new book Globejotting, Dave Fox provides a tutorial on documenting far-flung journeys without distracting yourself from the travel experiences themselves.
WHO, ME?
Who would use a column for personal gain? Jeff Kramer explains.
WHAT CAN’T SHE DO?
Tina Fey was everywhere this fall. But according to the Chicago Tribune, “she has shrugged off her growing stardom with typical self-deprecation.” Read here.
WIN FRIENDS, INFLUENCE PEOPLE
In October, This American Life explored stories of climbing to be No. 1. The show, broadcast on 500 public radio stations weekly, also accepts submissions.
NEXT ERMA BOMBECK WRITING COMPETITION TO BE HELD IN 2010
The Washington-Centerville Public Library announced it will hold its writer’s competition every other year to coincide with UD’s Erma Bombeck Writer’s Workshop. Past winning essays and competition details are available here.
Humor writer of the month
LISA ALCALAY KLUG
Call it hipster Judaism. The daughter of an Ashkenazi Holocaust survivor and the descendant of a Sephardic chief rabbi of Sarajevo, Klug is an American-born journalist whose work has appeared in the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Baltimore Sun, Philadelphia Inquirer, Shape, Self, Men's Fitness, Chicago Sun-Times, Associated Press, and Los Angeles Times, to name a few. Her new book, Cool Jew, just hit No. 8 on Amazon's list of bestselling Judaism titles. It's No. 4 on the bestselling humor/religion list.
Book giveaway
Each issue 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:
* Nancy Babcokc
* Roger Reynolds
* Trixie McGuire
Who's publishing what?
WORKSHOP FACULTY
‘JUST LIKE ANY OTHER FEMALE HUMAN’
See Dave Konig as “Newsweek reporter Todd Graham” in an exclusive pre-election report filed by The Onion.
LAST CHANCE
Sophfronia Scott is doing one last run of The 21-Step Guide to Writing, Publishing & Marketing Your Book.
SAILING THE HIGH SEAS
The Guide to Pirate Parenting book trailer won the Reader's Entertainment TV Best Author Made Book Video for October. The book trailer was created by Tim Bete, Guide to Pirate Parenting's author. Bete’s story, “We Are Dragon-Slayers,” was selected for A Chicken Soup for the Soul “101 Best” Books. The story previously appeared in Chicken Soup for the Soul: Dads & Daughters.
PAST WORKSHOP ATTENDEES
MADE IN AMERICA?
UM, MY BOOK?
Tracy Beckerman was a good sport to do a piece for CBS’s The Early Show on “shopping your closet” (huh?). What they didn’t mention? Her new book, Rebel Without a Minivan. NBC was more on the ball when she appeared giving movie recommendations on The Today Show.
THE DIVINE MISS DEE
‘THE WORDS MAKE DELICIOUS SOUNDS’
GOP SOUP
Angie Klink’s “Watergate: the Warm Fuzzies” appears in Republican Soul, published by the original publisher of the Chicken Soup for the Soul series.
MORE SOUP
Award-winning author and nationally syndicated columnist Saralee Perel will have three stories in Chicken Soup for the Soul: My Resolution, due out in December. She’s also a new contributor to Funny Times.
FRIENDS CALL HER THE LITERARY ‘GRANDMA MOSES’
Christina Cahill was runner-up in the Ohio AARP’s essay-writing contest. You can read her essay “Second Chance,” here.
BELTWAY SPUD
Sherry Antonetti lives in Washington, D.C., but her posts on a discussion group caught an Idaho editor’s eye. Her (paying) weekly humor column in Idaho’s Island Park News launches Nov. 21.
Markets, contests and more
BIG SCREEN CONTEST
Fat Rock Productions wants scripts from “undiscovered women”. The winning script will be filmed. Deadline is Dec. 12. More information here.
ON DEADLINE
Writersweekly.com is taking entries for its Winter 2009 24-Hour Short Story Contest. Contest start time is noon central time, Jan. 24, but you must enter in advance.
WARM UP
Chicken Soup for the Soul still wants your stories. End-of-year deadlines approach for pieces on college experiences and extraordinary teenagers. Golf stories are due by Dec. 1. Read more here.
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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 erma@udayton.edu.
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Copyright 2008, University of Dayton
