MUSCATINE, Iowa — A Muscatine writer has taken home the top prize at the 2024 Erma Bombeck Writing Competition.
Charla Schafer won the Global Humor category with her short essay, "Funeral Notes," which you can read here.
In it, Schafer laments the planning (or lack thereof) for her future funeral, poking fun at the end-of-life celebration her husband and three sons might someday throw for her. Instead, she lays out a few of her funeral wishes, including intermixing her ashes into the family vacuum cleaner, as "vacuum bag inventory shows no one, other than me, knows how to empty the bag."
480 entries from seven countries and 48 states were submitted for this year's Erma Bombeck Writing Competition. That added up to more than 230,000 words for judges to consider.
When she's not writing, Schafer is deeply involved in the Muscatine community. She currently serves as president of the Community Foundation of Greater Muscatine. Previously she also served as the Executive Director at the Muscatine Center for Social Action, a nonprofit that offers homeless prevention services, domestic violence sheltering, homes to those experiencing homelessness, and other health and educational services.
Schafer is also passionate about raising awareness for Type 1 Diabetes and Crohn's disease, which affects her youngest and middle sons.
She lives in Muscatine County with her husband of nearly four decades and three sons.
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