Since the 1930s Paul Engle's influence on poetry and creative writing has continually increased. His impact has been felt in three areas, any one of which would have been an entire career for someone less determined and energetic. In the 1930s and 1940s he was known as the poet from the heartland who was expected to revitalize a Whitmanesque vision of America. From 1942 to 1965, instead of continuing to focus on his own poetry his influence spread through his directorship of the Writers' Workshop at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. Under Engle this writing program developed a nationwide reputation because of his abilities to raise funds, to attract talented students and faculty members, and to justify the writer's place in the university to skeptics both in and out of academics. He is especially renowned for his ability to encourage talented students such as Flannery O'Connor and instructors...