List of Iowa Writers' Workshop people

The Program in Creative Writing, more commonly known as the Iowa Writers' Workshop, at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa is a graduate-level creative writing program in the United States.

The program began in 1936, with the gathering together of poets and fiction writers under the direction of Wilbur Schramm. Graduates earn a Master of Fine Arts in English; Iowa was the first program in the country to offer this degree.

The University of Iowa's Writers' Workshop has 28 affiliated Pulitzer Prizes earned by various faculty and graduates, and over 40 attributed to graduates and faculty of The University of Iowa.

Writers' Workshop graduates have produced 16 Pulitzer Prizes since 1947.

Notable alumni

Notable alumni of the program include:

  • Daniel Alarcon
  • Antler (did not graduate)
  • Chris Adrian
  • Jon Anderson
  • Robert Antoni
  • Nick Arvin
  • Reza Aslan
  • Kirsten Bakis
  • Tom Barbash
  • Emily Barton
  • Dan Beachy-Quick
  • Richard Bausch
  • Marvin Bell
  • Karen Bender
  • Suzanne Berne
  • Clark Blaise
  • Robert Bly
  • T. Coraghessan Boyle
  • Kevin Brockmeier
  • Sarah Shun-lien Bynum
  • Bruce Brooks
  • Suzanne Buffam
  • Sara Caldwell
  • Ethan Canin
  • Raymond Carver (did not graduate)
  • John Casey
  • Lan Samantha Chang
  • Kate Christensen
  • Sandra Cisneros
  • Joshua Clover
  • Arda Collins
  • Jane Cooper
  • Henri Coulette
  • Dennis Covington
  • Peter Craig
  • Mary Crow
  • Michael Cunningham
  • Robert Dana
  • Charles D'Ambrosio
  • Terry Davis
  • Stephen Dobyns
  • Rita Dove
  • Norman Dubie
  • Andre Dubus
  • Stuart Dybek
  • Kim Edwards
  • Nathan Englander
  • Paul Engle
  • Steven Erikson
  • Joe Frank
  • John Gardner
  • Robert Girardi
  • Diane Glancy
  • Gail Godwin
  • Albert Goldbarth
  • Jorie Graham
  • Lucy Grealy
  • Robin Green
  • Debora Greger
  • Linda Gregerson
  • Allan Gurganus
  • Jennifer Haigh
  • Joe Haldeman
  • Oakley Hall
  • Ron Hansen
  • Matthea Harvey
  • Kent Haruf
  • Kathryn Harrison
  • Adam Haslett
  • Daniel Hecht
  • Brenda Hillman
  • A.M. Homes
  • Jay Hopler
  • James Hynes
  • John Irving
  • Jeremy Jackson
  • Mark Jarman
  • Gish Jen
  • Denis Johnson
  • Kimberly Johnson
  • Thom Jones
  • Donald Justice
  • Claudia Keelan
  • W.P. Kinsella
  • Suji Kwock Kim
  • William Kittredge
  • Sana Krasikov
  • Robert Lacy
  • William Lashner
  • Nam Le
  • Katy Lederer
  • Philip Levine
  • Larry Levis
  • Yiyun Li
  • Paul Lisicky
  • William Logan
  • David Wong Louie
  • Thomas Lux
  • Haki R. Madhubuti
  • Sarah Manguso
  • Aaron McCollough
  • Elizabeth McCracken
  • Tom McHale
  • James Alan McPherson
  • David Milch
  • Leslie Adrienne Miller
  • Dow Mossman
  • Bharati Mukherjee
  • John Murray (Australian novelist)
  • Thisbe Nissen
  • Alice Notley
  • Flannery O'Connor
  • Thomas O'Malley
  • Chris Offutt
  • Peter Orner
  • Julie Orringer
  • ZZ Packer
  • Ann Patchett
  • Bob Perelman
  • Aimee Phan
  • Jayne Anne Phillips
  • D. A. Powell
  • Lia Purpura
  • Srikanth Reddy
  • Holiday Reinhorn
  • Lewis Robinson
  • Matthew Rohrer
  • Leonard Schrader
  • Philip Schultz
  • Bob Shacochis
  • Curtis Sittenfeld
  • David Shields
  • Jim Simmerman
  • Jane Smiley
  • W.D. Snodgrass
  • David St. John
  • Wallace Stegner
  • Richard G. Stern
  • Trenton Lee Stewart
  • Mark Strand
  • Mary Swander
  • Robert Sward
  • Anthony Swofford
  • Mary Szybist
  • Jonathan Thirkield
  • Edilberto K. Tiempo
  • Danielle Trussoni
  • Lewis Turco
  • Justin Tussing
  • Chase Twichell
  • Michael Tyrell
  • Brady Udall
  • Leslie Ullman
  • W.D. Valgardson
  • Jennifer Vanderbes
  • Abraham Verghese
  • William Veeder
  • Jeff Vintar
  • Ellen Bryant Voigt
  • Kurt Vonnegut
  • Margaret Walker
  • Barrett Watten
  • John Edgar Wideman
  • Joy Williams
  • Sam Witt
  • Ellen Wittlinger
  • Daniel Woodrell
  • Charles Wright

Faculty

Over the years, permanent and visiting faculty have included prominent fiction writers and poets, including:

Fiction writers

  • Nelson Algren
  • Jonathan Ames
  • Madison Smartt Bell
  • Vance Bourjaily
  • T. Coraghessan Boyle
  • Kevin Brockmeier
  • Ethan Canin
  • Edward Carey
  • John Casey
  • John Cheever
  • Frank Conroy
  • Robert Coover
  • Jim Crace
  • Charles D'Ambrosio
  • Nicholas Delbanco
  • Stuart Dybek
  • Deborah Eisenberg
  • Tony Eprile
  • Judith Grossman
  • Barry Hannah
  • Ron Hansen
  • Adam Haslett
  • James Hynes
  • John Irving
  • Thom Jones
  • Margot Livesey
  • Paule Marshall
  • Elizabeth McCracken
  • James Alan McPherson
  • Bharati Mukherjee
  • Chris Offutt
  • ZZ Packer
  • Francine Prose
  • Marilynne Robinson
  • Philip Roth
  • James Salter
  • Bob Shacochis
  • Jane Smiley
  • Scott Spencer
  • Elizabeth Tallent
  • Barry Unsworth
  • Jennifer Vanderbes
  • Kurt Vonnegut
  • Joy Williams
  • Meg Wolitzer
  • Richard Yates

Poets

  • Simon Armitage
  • John Ash
  • Marvin Bell
  • Ted Berrigan
  • John Berryman
  • Gillian Conoley
  • Mark Doty
  • Lynn Emanuel
  • Paul Engle
  • Kathleen Fraser
  • James Galvin
  • Forrest Gander
  • Louise Gluck
  • Jorie Graham
  • Robert Hass
  • Lyn Hejinian
  • Brenda Hillman
  • Anselm Hollo
  • Donald Justice
  • Claudia Keelan
  • Galway Kinnell
  • Carolyn Kizer
  • August Kleinzahler
  • Sukrita Paul Kumar
  • Ann Lauterbach
  • Mark Levine
  • Larry Levis
  • Robert Lowell
  • Thomas Lux
  • Jack Marshall
  • Heather McHugh
  • Sandra McPherson
  • Bob Perelman
  • Carl Phillips
  • Claudia Rankine
  • Donald Revell
  • Mary Ruefle
  • Tom Sleigh
  • Gerald Stern
  • Mark Strand
  • Robert Sward
  • Thomas Swiss
  • Mary Szybist
  • Cole Swensen
  • James Tate
  • Susan Wheeler
  • Emily Wilson
  • C.D. Wright
  • Dean Young.