University of Southern California

PhD Program

See writers who attended this program
Location: 
Los Angeles, CA
Genre: 
Poetry, Fiction, Creative Nonfiction
Residency: 
Full
Incoming Class Size: 
8-10
Application Deadline: 
December 1, 2023
Application Fee: 
$90
Contact E-mail: 
Contact Name: 
Janalynn Bliss
Core Faculty Includes: 

Poetry: Mark Irwin, Anna Journey, Robin Coste Lewis, Susan McCabe, David St. John
Fiction: Aimee Bender, Percival Everett, Dana Johnson, Viet Thanh Nguyen
Nonfiction: Geoff Dyer, Maggie Nelson, Danzy Senna, David Treuer

Funding/Employment Opportunities: 

The program offers full funding in the form of fellowships and assistantships, which include tuition remission, year-round health insurance coverage, and a modest stipend.

Other Features: 

Students are encouraged to cultivate their diverse interests with courses outside of the English Department. Many students choose to pursue a complimentary graduate certificate concurrent with the PhD degree. The Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences offers graduate certificate programs in Gender Studies, Visual Studies, East Asian Studies, and Visual Anthropology, among others.

Students also have the opportunity to participate in PhD student-run projects such as the Loudest Voice, a reading series, and Gold Line Press, a publisher of poetry and fiction chapbooks. There is also the English Department’s Boudreaux Visiting Writers Series and Frank N. Magill Poetry Series, as well as the University-wide Visions & Voices series. USC also hosts the annual Los Angeles Times Festival of Books.

Graduates: 

For a list of alumni, please visit the program’s website.