Temple’s graduate Creative Writing program was founded in the fall of 1984. Over twenty years later, its faculty and student writers continue to change the face of the national writing scene. The program began after several department members decided to take advantage of the presence of so many talented published writers on the Temple English Department faculty. Temple’s degree is an M.A. in English in Creative Writing rather than an M.F.A. and students studying Creative Writing are expected to do scholarly work alongside their creative work. Toby Olson, the program’s first chair, realized the benefits of this structure in an interview with Temple University Magazine: “We feel that it is reasonable and proper for the students to do a degree that involves a certain amount, in this case nearly half, of the course work in traditional academic studies…so they can get a sense of the tradition of writing.”    

Faculty who have taught in the program include such noted writers and scholars as Sonia Sanchez, Toby Olson, David Bradley, Alan Singer, Rachel Blau DuPlessis, Lawrence Venuti, Susan Stewart, Joan Mellen, and William Van Wert.  More recent additions to the faculty have included Samuel Delany and Jena Osman. The program also hosts a visiting writer and a visiting poet each year.. Visitors have included Robert Creeley, Donald Barthelme, Robert Coover, Rosmarie Waldrop, C.D. Wright, Jonathan Lethem, André Brink, Anita Desai, Peter Carey, Carole Maso, Edna O’Brien, and Alice Notley.

The program continues to be the only graduate Creative Writing program in the city of Philadelphia.