A Master of Professional Writing Program is a type of graduate degree program in

professional writing Professional writing as an activity is writing for reward or as a profession; as a product or object, professional writing is any form of written communication produced in a workplace environment or context that enables employees to, for example, co ...

Chatham University Chatham University is a private university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Originally founded as a women's college, it began enrolling men in undergraduate programs in 2015. It enrolls about 2,110 students, including 1,002 undergraduate students an ...

in Pennsylvania has an online MPW program. The

University of Southern California , mottoeng = "Let whoever earns the palm bear it" , religious_affiliation = Nonsectarian—historically Methodist , established = , accreditation = WSCUC , type = Private research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $8. ...

's MPW program ended in May 2016, at which point it moved to the

Vermont College of Fine Arts Vermont College of Fine Arts (VCFA) is a private graduate-level art school in Montpelier, Vermont. It offers Master's degrees in low-residency and residential programs. Its faculty includes Pulitzer Prize finalists, National Book Award winne ...

under the new name the School of Writing and Publishing.

Notable alumni of the USC program

Millicent Borges Accardi Millicent Borges Accardi is a Portuguese-American poet who lives in California. She has received literary fellowships from the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), Fulbright, CantoMundo, the California Arts Council, Foundation for Contemporary A ...

, poet and recipient of a

National Endowment for the Arts The National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that offers support and funding for projects exhibiting artistic excellence. It was created in 1965 as an independent agency of the federa ...

fellowship A fellow is a concept whose exact meaning depends on context. In learned or professional societies, it refers to a privileged member who is specially elected in recognition of their work and achievements. Within the context of higher educationa ...

Mark Andrus Mark Andrus, born December 13, 1955 in Los Angeles, is an American screenwriter. After receiving a Master of Business Administration from UC Riverside, Andrus decided to take a creative writing class while waiting to hear from the law schools to ...

, author of ''

As Good as It Gets ''As Good as It Gets'' is a 1997 American romantic comedy-drama film directed by James L. Brooks, who co-wrote it with Mark Andrus. The film stars Jack Nicholson as a misanthropic, bigoted, and obsessive–compulsive novelist, Helen Hunt as ...

'' and ''

Life as a House ''Life as a House'' is a 2001 American drama film produced and directed by Irwin Winkler. The screenplay by Mark Andrus focuses on a man who is anxious to repair his relationship with his ex-wife and teenaged son after he is diagnosed with termin ...

'' *Margaret Davis, author of biographies of

William Mulholland William Mulholland (September 11, 1855 – July 22, 1935) was an Irish American self-taught civil engineer who was responsible for building the infrastructure to provide a water supply that allowed Los Angeles to grow into the largest city in Cal ...

and

Edward L. Doheny Edward Laurence Doheny (; August 10, 1856 – September 8, 1935) was an American oil tycoon who, in 1892, drilled the first successful oil well in the Los Angeles City Oil Field. His success set off a petroleum boom in Southern California, a ...

* Frederick Johnson, Emmy- and WGA Award-winning writer of daytime television serials *

Charlotte Laws Charlotte Anne Laws (Born May 11, 1960) is an American author, talk show host, animal rights advocate, anti-revenge porn activist, former Los Angeles politician, and actress (under the stage name Missy Laws). Laws is a former BBC News contribut ...

, author and

animal rights Animal rights is the philosophy according to which many or all sentient animals have moral worth that is independent of their utility for humans, and that their most basic interests—such as avoiding suffering—should be afforded the sa ...

advocate * EM Lewis, playwright *

Sandra Tsing Loh Sandra Tsing Loh (, born February 11, 1962) is an American writer, actress, radio personality, and former professor of art at the University of California, Irvine. Life and career Loh is the younger daughter of a Chinese father and a German mot ...

, radio commentator and author * Gina Nahai, author of ''Cry of the Peacock'' *

Greg Rucka Gregory Rucka (born November 29, 1969) is an American writer known for the series of novels starring his character Atticus Kodiak, the creator-owned comic book series '' Whiteout'', '' Queen & Country'', ''Stumptown'' and '' Lazarus'', as well as ...

, writer of novels and

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panel (comics), panels that represent individual scenes. ...

s * Ann Seaman, author of biographies of

Jimmy Swaggart Jimmy Lee Swaggart (; born March 15, 1935) is an American Pentecostal televangelist, gospel music recording artist, pianist, and Christian author. His television ministry, which began in 1971, and was originally known as the “Camp Meeting H ...

and

Madalyn Murray O'Hair Madalyn Murray O'Hair (née Mays; April 13, 1919 – September 29, 1995) was an American activist supporting atheism and separation of church and state. In 1963 she founded American Atheists and served as its president until 1986, after which h ...

* Lee Wochner, playwright

Notable faculty of the USC program

Shelley Berman Sheldon Leonard Berman (February 3, 1925 – September 1, 2017) was an American comedian, actor, writer, teacher, and lecturer. In his comedic career, he was awarded three gold records and he won the first Grammy Award for a spoken comedy reco ...

, humor writing * Nan Cohen, poetry *

Syd Field Sydney Alvin Field (December 19, 1935November 17, 2013) was an American author and speaker who wrote several books on screenwriting, the first being '' Screenplay: The Foundations of Screenwriting'' (Dell Publishing, 1979). He led workshops and s ...

, screenwriting *

Janet Fitch Janet Fitch (born November 9, 1955) is an American author. She wrote the novel ''White Oleander'', which became a film in 2002. She is a graduate of Reed College. Fitch was born in Los Angeles, a third-generation native, and grew up in a fami ...

, fiction * Noel Riley Fitch, non-fiction * Donald Freed, playwriting *

Amy Gerstler Amy Gerstler (born 1956) is an American poet. She won a Guggenheim Fellowship as well as the National Book Critics Circle Award. Biography Amy Gerstler was born in 1956. She is a graduate of Pitzer College and holds an M.F.A. from Bennington Co ...

, poetry * Dana Goodyear, non-fiction * Janet Irvin, fiction *

Irvin Kershner Irvin Kershner (born Isadore Kershner; April 29, 1923November 27, 2010) was an American film director, actor, and producer of film and television. He gained notice early in his career as a filmmaker for directing quirky, independent drama films ...

, cinema/TV *

Jerome Lawrence Jerome Lawrence (born Jerome Lawrence Schwartz; July 14, 1915 – February 29, 2004) was an American playwright and author. After graduating from the Ohio State University in 1937 and the University of California, Los Angeles in 1939, Lawrence pa ...

, playwriting * Dinah Lenney, non-fiction * Gerald Locklin, poetry, fiction *

Larry the Cable Guy Daniel Lawrence Whitney (born February 17, 1963), known professionally by his persona Larry the Cable Guy, is an American stand-up comedian, actor, producer, country music artist, and former radio personality. He was one of the members of the ...

, cinema/TV *

MG Lord MG, Mg, or mg and variants may refer to: Organizations * MG Cars, an automotive marque of the now defunct MG Car Company * MG Motor, a present-day car manufacturing company *MG JW Automobile, a Pakistani automobile manufacturer * Champion Air ...

, non-fiction *

Shelly Lowenkopf Shelly Lowenkopf (born September 6, 1931, Santa Monica, California) is an American writer and editor. He was an instructor in the Master of Professional Writing Program at the University of Southern California from 1974 until 2008. In 2012, he ...

, fiction, publishing * David Scott Milton, playwriting * Gina Nahai, fiction *

Gabrielle Pina Gabrielle may refer to: * Gabrielle (given name), a French female given name derived from Gabriel Film and television * ''Gabrielle'' (1954 film), a Swedish film directed by Hasse Ekman * ''Gabrielle'' (2005 film), a French film directed by P ...

, fiction *

Robert Pirosh Robert Pirosh (April 1, 1910 – December 25, 1989) was an American motion picture and television screenwriter and director. In 1951, he was nominated for another Academy Award for the screenplay '' Go for Broke!''. This was his directoria ...

, cinema/TV *

Beata Pozniak Beata or Beate is a female given name that occurs in several cultures and languages, including Italian, German, Polish, and Swedish, and which is derived from the Latin ''beatus'', meaning "blessed".''Behind the Name''"Given Name Beate" Retrie ...

, drama/film/TV *

James Ragan James Ragan (born December 19, 1944) is an American poet, screenwriter, and educator. He has traveled and worked around the world and was the director of the Professional Writing Program at the University of Southern California for 25 years as ...

, poetry and program director for 25 years *

John Rechy John Francisco Rechy (born March 10, 1931) is a Mexican-American novelist and essayist. In his novels, he has written extensively about gay culture in Los Angeles and wider America, among other subject matter, and is among the pioneers of modern ...

, fiction *

Aram Saroyan Aram Saroyan (born September 25, 1943) is an American poet, novelist, biographer, memoirist and playwright, who is especially known for his minimalist poetry, famous examples of which include the one-word poem "lighght" and a one-letter poem comp ...

, poetry, fiction *

Hubert Selby Jr. Hubert "Cubby" Selby Jr. (July 23, 1928 – April 26, 2004) was an American writer. Two of his novels, ''Last Exit to Brooklyn'' (1964) and ''Requiem for a Dream'' (1978) explore worlds in the New York area and were adapted as films, both of whi ...

, fiction *

Melville Shavelson Melville Shavelson (April 1, 1917 – August 8, 2007) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and author. He was President of the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAw) from 1969 to 1971, 1979 to 1981, and 1985 to 1987. Biog ...

, cinema/TV *

Gay Talese Gaetano "Gay" Talese (; born February 7, 1932) is an American writer. As a journalist for ''The New York Times'' and '' Esquire'' magazine during the 1960s, Talese helped to define contemporary literary journalism and is considered, along with ...

, non-fiction * Shirley Thomas,

technical writing Technical writing is writing or drafting technical communication used in technical and occupational fields, such as computer hardware and software, architecture, engineering, chemistry, aeronautics, robotics, finance, medical, consumer electron ...

Kenneth Turan Kenneth Turan (; born October 27, 1946) is an American retired film critic, author, and lecturer in the Master of Professional Writing Program at the University of Southern California. He was a film critic for the ''Los Angeles Times'' from 1991 ...

, film * Lee Wochner, playwriting * Richard Yates, fiction

References

{{reflist

External links

Chatham University programVermont College of Fine Arts program
Writing

Fine Arts In European academic traditions, fine art is developed primarily for aesthetics or creative expression, distinguishing it from decorative art or applied art, which also has to serve some practical function, such as pottery or most metalwo ...