Editing Iowa Writers' Workshop (section)

== Organization ==

=== Methodology ===
The Workshop was formed by Norman Foerster's passionate support for creative writing and [[Wilbur Schramm|Wilbur Schramm's]] conviction that writing should be as technical and rigorous a pursuit as any traditional literature degree. The workshop model for higher education creative writing was created in that pursuit of technical intensity. The model constantly exposed students to outside opinions on their fiction and created a pressurized atmosphere that forced students to rein in their emotional reactions and consider their work analytically. The Workshop operated without the characteristic assumption of the time that artists needed to be unleashed, instead opting to focus and refine them.<ref>{{Citation |title=Autobardolatry |date=2009-08-30 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/j.ctvjsf59f.5 |work=The Program Era |pages=77–126 |access-date=2023-11-07 |publisher=Harvard University Press|doi=10.2307/j.ctvjsf59f.5 |url-access=subscription }}</ref> While intended to serve fiction writers, the Workshop began to change in the 1970s when its first nonfiction thesis was accepted. Ever since, the Workshop has produced many literary journalists and shaped public perception of creative nonfiction.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dowling |first=David |date=2016 |title=Beyond the Program Era: Tracy Kidder, John D'Agata, and the Rise of Literary Journalism at the Iowa Writers' Workshop |journal=Literary Journalism Studies |volume=8 |issue=1 |pages=52–56 |via=EBSCO Communication Source}}</ref>

=== Curriculum and courses ===
The program's curriculum requires students to take a small number of classes each semester, including the Graduate Fiction Workshop or Graduate Poetry Workshop and one or two additional literature seminars. These requirements are meant to prepare students for the realities of professional writing, where self-discipline is paramount. The graduate workshop courses meet weekly. Before each three-hour class, a small number of students submit material for critical reading by their peers. The class consists of a round-table discussion during which the students and the instructor discuss each piece. How classes are conducted varies by teacher and between poetry and fiction. The ideal result is not only that writers come away with insights into their work's strengths and weaknesses, but that the class as a whole derives insight, whether general or specific, about the process of writing.<ref name=nyt86>{{Cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/05/25/magazine/can-writing-be-taught-in-iowa.html | title=Can Writing Be Taught in Iowa? |first=Maureen |last=Howard | date=May 25, 1986| work=The New York Times}}</ref>

When the Workshop received the National Humanities Medal in 2002, then director Conroy explained its ethos: "It is a focused program, like [[Juilliard]]. We read constantly, rereading the classics. They can write anything they want. We teach them what we've learned as writers."<ref>{{cite web |title=Iowa Writer's Workshop |url=https://www.neh.gov/about/awards/national-humanities-medals/iowa-writers-workshop |publisher=National Endowment for the Humanities |access-date=June 14, 2023}}</ref>

In a 2022 interview, Chang said: <blockquote>We don't have a quota about where people are from or what kind of writing they do. What we look for is work that is filled with energy, work that interests us. I'm sure, every year, there are many, many very good writers who go elsewhere because we don't admit them. But we try to be very open. I would say that we look for work that excites us. Frank Conroy used to describe it as feeling someone reaching off the page at you when you're reading, feeling tension in the language.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Otosirieze |title=In Conversation with Lan Samantha Chang, Director of the Iowa Writers' Workshop |url=https://opencountrymag.com/in-conversation-with-lan-samantha-chang-director-of-the-iowa-writers-workshop/ |website=Open Country Mag |date=July 23, 2022|access-date=June 14, 2023}}</ref></blockquote>

=== Faculty and alumni ===
Faculty have included [[Kurt Vonnegut]], [[Richard Yates (novelist)|Richard Yates]], [[Philip Roth]], [[John Cheever]], [[Marilynne Robinson]], [[James Galvin (poet)|James Galvin]]<ref>{{cite web|url= https://writersworkshop.uiowa.edu/people/james-galvin|title= Professor Emeritus|website=Iowa Writer's Workshop|date= May 2025}}</ref> and [[Ladee Hubbard]].<ref>{{citeweb|url= https://writersworkshop.uiowa.edu/people/ladee-hubbard|title= Visiting Assistant Professor, Spring 2023|website=Iowa Writer's Workshop|date= May 2025}}</ref>

As of May 2025, the workshop's faculty are [[Jamel Brinkley]], [[Charles D'Ambrosio]], and [[Margot Livesey]] in fiction; [[Ethan Canin]] in English and creative writing; , [[Mark Levine (poet)|Mark Levine]], [[Tracie Morris]], Margaret Ross, and [[Elizabeth Willis]] in poetry; and Program Director [[Lan Samantha Chang]]. Visiting faculty are [[Ari Banias]], [[Tom Drury]], Evan James, Afabwaje Kurian, [[Claire Lombardo]], and [[Carmen Maria Machado]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://writersworkshop.uiowa.edu/faculty|title = People &#124; Iowa Writers' Workshop &#124; College of Liberal Arts & Sciences &#124; the University of Iowa}}</ref>