In a letter from Robert Penn Warren to Paul Engle, Robert says, ‘I shall arrive in Iowa City on the afternoon of Sunday, January 7 [1944], on the Rocket.’ He is referring to the Rock Island Line, a railroad that went west from Chicago across Iowa. Though the line no longer runs, the old station still remains.

 

 

In a letter to Paul Engle, held in the University of Iowa Special Collections, Robert Penn Warren writes on November 22, 1948:

“I might be able to get down for the Workshop meeting on Thursday, but to be absolutely sure we had better make the meeting on Friday if you can arrange that without too much difficulty.”

Later he describes the visit as a “pleasure trip” and writes “Your description of the situation at Iowa could not fail to be attractive to anyone.”

Penn Warren signs the letter Red, (his nickname after his auburn hair.)

In a letter to Paul Engle on December 3rd, 1944, Robert Penn Warren discusses visiting the Iowa Writers’ Workshop to teach as a visiting professor:

I shall be delighted to come to Iowa, on all counts. As to the business of the date and what is expected of my once I am there, I don’t have any very clear idea.

Later in the letter, he mentions how he reads Coleridge on “breaks” from his novel:

I have been working on a study of ‘The Ancient Mariner,’ but it is yet in a very confused condition, and it might be months before I finish it. (You see, I am on the down grade of a novel, and I simply put a little work in on the Coleridge in the moments when I’m bored or stale on the novel.)

This letter, along with additional Penn Warren papers, is held at the University of Iowa Special Collections in the Main Library.

When Robert Penn Warren visited Iowa City, he very often stayed with Paul Engle. In 1945, Warren wrote a letter to Engle at 1218 Friendly Avenue, discussing the visit he would soon make, and how much he was looking forward to staying at Engle’s home again. This letter can be viewed at Special Collections, in the UI Main Library.

Robert Penn Warren visiting Paul Engle in Iowa City, 1951. In the background, the corrugated buildings are the Quonset Huts — over Warren’s right shoulder is the original Iowa Writers’ Workshop structure. This location, next to the Iowa Memorial Union, is now home to the Iowa Advanced Technologies Laboratory.