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Dick Polman

Dick Polman is the Maury Povich Writer in Residence, a member of the CPCW faculty, and writes a newsletter each week at dickpolman.substack.com. His previous work, as a political columnist, is archived at dickpolman.net. Dick was a 22-year staff writer on The Philadelphia Inquirer, where he covered five presidential campaigns as the paper’s national political writer and columnist; he helmed the London bureau as a foreign correspondent; he covered the Philadelphia Phillies as a baseball beat writer; he was a roving national correspondent; and as a regular contributor to the Inquirer’s Sunday magazine, he wrote long-form pieces on everything from Nazi war criminals to the comeback of the condom. He has written 33 pieces on national politics for The Atlantic, and has free-lanced for Politico MagazineSmithsonian Magazine, and the Knight Foundation. Before moving to Philadelphia, he wrote three columns a week for The Hartford Courant, and was the founding editor of an alternative newspaper, the Hartford Advocate, where he also wrote a weekly column. Dick attended George Washington University, where he served as managing editor of the college newspaper, and graduated with a BA in public affairs in 1973. He first came to Penn in 1999, when he audited classes during a one-semester fellowship, and he started teaching at Penn in 2003. In public events at the Kelly Writers House, he hosts as many as six prominent journalists a year - his happy routine since 2006. Dick lives in Center City, his son is a senior projects manager at Comcast HQ, and his daughter is a website designer based in West Philadelphia.

Courses Taught

fall 2025

ENGL 3417.301 Political Journalism  

spring 2025

ENGL 3408.301 Long-Form Journalism  

fall 2024

spring 2024

fall 2023

ENGL 3408.301 Long-Form Journalism  

spring 2023

ENGL 3408.301 Long-Form Journalism  
ENGL 3417.301 Political Journalism  

fall 2022

spring 2022

ENGL 160.301 Long-Form Journalism  

fall 2021

ENGL 158.301 Journalistic Storytelling  

spring 2021

ENGL 160.301 Long-Form Journalism  
ENGL 161.301 Art of the Profile  

fall 2020

ENGL 158.301 Journalistic Storytelling  

spring 2020

ENGL 160.301 Long-Form Joournalism  

fall 2019

ENGL 158.301 Journalistic Storytelling  

spring 2019

ENGL 160.301 Long-Form Journalism  
ENGL 161.301 The Art of the Profile  

fall 2018

ENGL 158.301 Journalistic Storytelling  

spring 2018

ENGL 160.301 Long-form Journalism  
ENGL 161.301 Art of the Profile  

fall 2017

ENGL 158.301 Journalistic Story-Telling  

spring 2017

ENGL 160.301 Long-form Journalism  
ENGL 161.301 The Art of the Profile  

fall 2016

ENGL 158.301 Journalistic Storytelling  

spring 2016

ENGL 161.301 Art of the Profile  

fall 2015

ENGL 158.301 Journalistic Story-Telling  

spring 2015

ENGL 160.301 Long-Form Journalism  

fall 2014

ENGL 158.301 Journalistic Story-Telling  

spring 2014

ENGL 161.301 The Art of the Profile  

fall 2013

ENGL 158.301 Journalistic Story-Telling  

spring 2013

ENGL 160.301 Long-Form Journalism  
ENGL 161.301 The Art of the Profile  

fall 2012

ENGL 158.301 Journalistic Story-Telling  

spring 2012

ENGL 161.301 The Art of the Profile  

fall 2011

ENGL 158.301 Journalistic Story-Telling  

spring 2011

ENGL 160.301 Long-Form Journalism  
ENGL 161.301 The Art of the Profile  

fall 2010

spring 2010

ENGL 161.301 The Art of the Profile  

fall 2009

ENGL 161.301 The Art of the Profile  

spring 2009

fall 2008

ENGL 161.301 The Art of the Profile  

spring 2008

ENGL 161.301 The Art of the Profile  

fall 2007

spring 2007

fall 2006

spring 2006

spring 2005

spring 2004

spring 2003