The late Jenny Moore, who was a playwriting student at The George Washington University, left in trust a fund to encourage creative writing, and the trustees of the Fund helped design the program. Thanks to this fund the department brings an established poet or novelist to campus each year to teach a writing workshop for GW students and a free community workshop for adults in the larger Washington community. The position is intended to serve as a fellowship for the visiting writer, since it involves only a moderate teaching load. The program's location at a university in the center of Washington should offer additional attractions for the writer. Those who have held this prestigious appointment at GW are:

Marilyn Hacker 1976-1977 Susan Shreve 1977-1978 Amiri Baraka 1978-1979 Blanche Boyd 1979-1980 Carol Muske 1980-1981 Peter Meinke 1981-1982 Lucille Clifton 1982-1983 Julia Alvarez 1983-1984 Gloria Naylor 1984-1985 Rikka Lesser 1985-1986 Lonnie Carter 1986-1987 Richard McGann 1987-1988 Bobbie Jack Nelson 1988-1989 Jane Shore 1989-1990 Pablo Medina 1990-1991 Carol Maso 1992-1993

John Haines 1991-1992 Linda McCarriston 1993-1994 Beverly Lowry 1994-1995 Vikram Chandra 1995-1996 Cornelius Eady 1996-1997 Daniel Vilmure 1997-1998 Anne Caston 1998-1999 Dan Barden 1999-2000 Tony Hoagland 2000-2001 John McNally 2001-2002 Suzannah Lessard 2002-2003 Rick Barot 2003-2004 Joyce Hackett 2004-2005 Dana Roeser 2005-2006 Tayari Jones 2006-2007 Ryan Van Cleve 2007-2008