The Literary Charms of Key West Writers: A Walking Guide from Fleming Street

For an island of a few square miles, Key West has an improbable number of writers to its name. Ernest Hemingway, Tennessee Williams, Elizabeth Bishop, Robert Frost, Shel Silverstein and Judy Blume all lived or wintered here, and many of the houses they wrote in still stand on the quiet streets of Old Town, most of them a short walk from our door on Fleming Street.

This is a guide to Key West's writers for readers planning a visit: who lived where, which houses you can go inside, and how to see them all on foot.

Which writers lived in Key West?

Hemingway is the name everyone knows, but he was the beginning rather than the whole story. Tennessee Williams made Key West his home for more than three decades. The poet Elizabeth Bishop bought a house on White Street in 1938 and wrote much of her first collection there. Robert Frost spent his winters in a cottage in Old Town from the mid-1940s.

Later came Shel Silverstein, John Hersey, James Merrill, Richard Wilbur and Alison Lurie, and today Judy Blume, who co-founded the island's independent bookstore. What drew them was what still draws visitors: the light, the water, the cheap rents of the early years, and an island far enough from everywhere else to be left alone.

Where is the Hemingway house?

The Ernest Hemingway Home and Museum is at 907 Whitehead Street, about a ten-minute walk from Marrero's. Hemingway first came to Key West in 1928 and lived in this Spanish Colonial house with his second wife, Pauline, through the 1930s. In the writing studio behind the main house he worked on Death in the Afternoon, Green Hills of Africa and To Have and Have Not, his one novel set in Key West. (The Old Man and the Sea, often credited to his Key West years, was written later, in Cuba.)

The house is open every day from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm. Tickets are sold at the gate and a guided tour is included. Expect to meet some of the six-toed cats who live on the grounds, descended from a white cat a ship's captain gave Hemingway. Go at opening time to beat the crowds.

Where did Tennessee Williams live, and can you visit?

Tennessee Williams first came to Key West in 1941, settled here in 1949, and in 1950 bought a small house at 1431 Duncan Street, where he lived on and off until his death in 1983. He wrote The Night of the Iguana in Key West, and before buying his own home he stayed at La Concha Hotel on Duval Street while working on A Streetcar Named Desire; we tell that story in our post on Hollywood Regency in Key West. The Duncan Street house is privately owned, so admire it from the sidewalk.

The place to learn about him is the Tennessee Williams Museum, run by the Key West Art & Historical Society. It is closed at the time of writing while it relocates to 604 Whitehead Street, about three minutes' walk from Marrero's, where it will show his photographs, first editions, letters and the typewriter he used on the island. An opening date has not been announced, so check before you plan around it, or ask us and we will tell you where it stands.

Can you visit Elizabeth Bishop's house?

Yes, and it is one of the island's quiet pleasures. Elizabeth Bishop bought the 1890s eyebrow house at 624 White Street in 1938 and lived there until 1946, writing many of the poems in her first book, North & South. It is one of the "three loved houses" she mourns in her poem "One Art."

The Key West Literary Seminar bought the house in 2019 and has restored it to the way it looked in Bishop's day. The Bishop House & Garden is open to the public on weekdays, with more than 75 species of plants, many of them described in her letters and poems. The house itself opens for tours and events. It is about a 15-minute walk from Marrero's, and a good spot to sit and read for an hour.

Where is Judy Blume's bookstore?

Judy Blume, the author of Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret., has lived in Key West for many years, and in 2016 she co-founded Books & Books at The Studios of Key West, 533 Eaton Street. It is a nonprofit, independent bookstore with a strong shelf of Key West and Florida writers, and signed Blume titles are usually in stock. It is about a five-minute walk from Marrero's, which makes it the easiest literary stop of all.

Is there a literary walking tour of Key West?

There is, and it starts on our street. The Key West Literary Seminar runs the Old Town Literary Walking Tour, a 90-minute stroll past the former homes and haunts of Tennessee Williams, Shel Silverstein, Elizabeth Bishop, Robert Frost and many less famous local writers. It sets off from the Monroe County Public Library at 700 Fleming Street, a five-minute walk from Marrero's, and ends near Greene and Elizabeth Streets.

Tickets are $30 per person, with discounts for teachers, librarians and students. Each tour takes just twelve people, so book ahead. The tours run weekly from October through the spring and take a break over the summer.

A self-guided literary walk from Marrero's

If you would rather go at your own pace, everything above falls into two easy walks.

The Whitehead Street walk (about an hour, plus visits). Head south down Whitehead Street to the Hemingway Home at 907, passing 604 Whitehead, the Tennessee Williams Museum's new home, on the way. The Key West Lighthouse stands directly across the street from the Hemingway Home, and you can climb its 88 steps for a view down into the garden.

The Fleming and White Street walk (about an hour, plus browsing). Walk east along Fleming Street to the public library at 700 Fleming, turn toward Eaton Street for Books & Books, then carry on east to the Bishop House & Garden at 624 White Street for a quiet half hour among her plants. Plan this one for a weekday so the garden is open.

Writing workshops and the Key West Literary Seminar

Key West is still a working writers' town. Every January the Key West Literary Seminar brings writers and readers together for a week of talks and readings on a single theme, alongside writing workshops for all levels. The Studios of Key West, home to Books & Books, runs classes and exhibitions year-round. If you are coming for the Seminar, book your room early, because January is the height of the season.

A house with its own story

Marrero's was built in the same era as many of the houses on this walk, by a Cuban cigar maker for the woman he loved, and it has a story worthy of any of these writers. You can read it on our history page, and for the island's own story from its founding, see our brief history of Key West. When you are ready to plan your stay, take a look at our guest rooms.

We look forward to hosting your next Key West stay.

The Marrero's Team