Hoffman entered the program in 2000 as a playwright, took a leave of absence after one year to accept a Chesterfield fellowship in screenwriting, and found out one month before graduating that he'd been selected for a Wallace E. Stegner Fellowship in poetry from Stanford University. "The guy's too interdisciplinary," says director Jim Magnuson, "we can't keep up with him."

"My time at the Michener Center seems like a dream wrapped in a fantasy blanketed by an incredible array of brilliant and supportive teachers and colleagues," Hoffman says. "I was able to work with Heather McHugh, Naomi Nye, Lee Blessing, and Lars Gustafsson, to name just a few. If you can't feel at home at the Michener Center then you are probably a misanthrope and should seek help immediately."

Hoffman's poems have appeared in Field, New Orleans Review, and Spinning Jenny, among others. His dramatic writing has been recognized with a New Orleans Literary Festival/Tennessee Williams Short Play Award, a Samuel French Original Short Play Award, and he was a finalist for the Heideiman Award from the Actors Theater of Louisville. His published plays include "Fishing" in Under 30: Plays for a New Generation (Vintage: 2004) and "Francis Brick Needs No Introduction" in Festival Plays #23 (Samuel French: 1999).

Since completing his Stegner residency, Jeff has continued to publish poetry and has returned to Los Angeles to pursue film and television writing.