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The Nonfiction Writing Program
Basic
Information
The Nonfiction Writing Program is broadly devoted to literary nonfiction
and serves the purposes principally of people who aspire to become writers.
But it serves equally well persons who imagine themselves teaching writing
or in a job that emphasizes strong writing and editing skills. Although
as many as half the required hours may be taken as electives in other
graduate courses -- for what a writer may need to know is open ended
and entirely beyond prescription -- work in the essay and on prose style
is a fundamental feature of the program. Applicants come with varied
(and often professional) experience as freelance writers, journalists,
and teachers. Normally it takes three years to complete the program.
For further information, students may contact Robin Hemley, Department
of English, University of Iowa, 308 English Philosophy Building, Iowa
City, Iowa, 52242-1492.
 Degree Requirements
Course Requirements: In conjunction with an advisor, each student plans
a coherent (and typically very individual) program of study. The degree
requires a total of 48 semester hours. At least 30 of these hours must
be earned in residence at Iowa; 24 must involve work in program-designated
courses, with from 4 to 8 of those hours committed to the thesis.
Electives: Within the requirements specified above, students may choose
widely among courses not only in English, but in any other department
of the university, so long as it is for graduate credit and the student
satisfies whatever prerequisites a particular course may require. As
many as 24 of the total 48 hours may be in course work outside the Nonfiction
Writing Program. Programs like the Writers' Workshop and the Iowa Center
for the Book offer courses attractive to many of our students. Or it
may serve you well to study geology, for example, if you wish to write
of earthly matters. On the other hand, students often find at least equal
advantage in taking more than the minimum amount of work in nonfiction
writing courses.
Thesis: All students within the program are required to write a thesis.
The thesis may be a single, extended piece of nonfiction or a collection
of essays. In either case, we seek work finished to the point of being
ready for submission for possible publication. A proposal for the thesis
is submitted to the thesis director for approval before the student registers
for the required thesis credit. After completing the work, the student
must pass an oral defense conducted by the thesis committee and receive
the committee's approval of the completed thesis.
 Books by Graduates
Marilyn Abildskov, Wide Love in a Narrow
Place, University
of Iowa Press, 2004
Faith Adiele, Meeting Faith: The Forest
Journals of a Black Buddhist Nun in Thailand, W.W. Norton, 2004
Jon Anderson, City Watch: Discovering
the Uncommon Chicago, University
of Iowa Press, 2001
Julene Bair, One Degree West: Reflections
of a Plainsdaughter, Midlist
Press, 2000 (Winner of Midlist Award for Creative Nonfiction)
Jo Ann Beard, The Boys of My Youth, Little Brown, 1999
John D'Agata, ed. The Next American
Essay, Graywolf Press, 2003
John D'Agata, Halls of Fame, Graywolf Press, 2001
Robert Eaton, The Lightning Field:
Travels in and Around New Mexico, Johnson Books, 1995
Hope Edelman, Mother of My Mother:
The Intricate Bond Between Generations, Dial Press, 1999
Hope Edelman, ed. Letters from Motherless
Daughters: Words of Courage, Grief, and Healing, Delta, 1996
Hope Edelman, Motherless Daughters:
The Legacy of Loss, Addison Wesley,
1994
Kate Gleason, co-author with Janusz Bardach, Surviving
Freedom: After the Gulag, University of California Press, 2003
Kate Gleason (with Bardach), Man Is
Wolf to Man, University of California
Press, 1998
Joelle Fraser, The Territory of Men:
One Woman's Trespass, Villard Books,
2002
Brian Lennon, City: An Essay, University
of Georgia Press, 2002 (Winner of the Associated Writing Programˆs
Award for Creative Nonfiction, 2001)
Brian Lennon, Dial Series One, Potes & Poets Press, 2000
Greg Lichtenberg, Playing Catch with
My Mother, Bantam, 1999
Carolyn Lieberg, Little Sisters, Circulus
Publications, Wildcat Canyon
Press, Berkeley, 1998. German translation, 1999
Carolyn Lieberg, Calling the Midwest
Home, Wildcat Canyon Press, 1996.
Carolyn Lieberg, Suriname, Grolier Publications, Children's Press, Chicago,
1995
Elmar Lueth, No Such Country: Essays
Toward Home, University of Iowa,
2002
Tom Montgomery-Fate, Beyond the White
Noise, Chalice Books, 1997
Donald Nichols,i University of Iowa Press, 2002.
Donald Nichols, The Personal Investor's
Complete Book of Bonds, Longman's
Financial Services, 1989.
Donald Nichols, The Income Investor, Longman's Financial Services, 1988.
Donald Nichols, ed. The Handbook of
Investor Relations, Irwin Profesional
Publications, 1988.
Donald Nichols, Dow Jones Irwin Guide
to Zero Coupon Investing, Dow
Jones Irwin, 1986.
Donald Nichols, Live Cycle Investing, McGraw Hill, 1985.
Donald Nichols, Starting Small, Investing
Smart, Dow Jones-Irwin, 1984
John T. Price, Not Just Any Land: A Personal and Literary Journey
into the American Grasslands, University of Nebraska Press, 2004
Dan Roche, Love's Labors: Memoir of
a Young Marriage and Divorce, Riverhead
Books, 1999.
Martin Roper, Gone, Henry Holt, 2002
Annie Tremmel Wilcox, A Degree of Mastery:
A Journey Through Book Arts Apprenticeship, New Rivers Press, 1999.
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