The Writer’s Workshop is considered by many to be one of the top writing programs in the U.S., and is located at the University of Iowa. It offers course work in both fiction and poetry. Started in 1936, it was the first program offering a degree in creative writing at a university. Graduates of the program include Flannery O’Conner, John Irving, Wallace Stegner, and Jane Smiley. Kurt Vonnegut Jr was once faculty member with the program.