South Carolina’s poet laureate resigns, wants more support for state position
South Carolina will need to find a new state poet laureate after the longtime incumbent resigned her position this week.
Marjory Wentworth announced on Twitter that she was stepping down after 17 years in the job. Wentworth is a professor of English at the College of Charleston and the author of multiple books of poetry.
“I’ve thoroughly enjoyed serving as poet laureate. But after 17 years, it’s time to pass the honor onto someone else,” Wentworth told The State.
The poet laureate’s position is honorary, appointed by the governor, and without any official duties, although the poet laureate has traditionally composed a poem for the governor’s inauguration. In 2003, any nominal pay for the post was cut from the state budget.
Wentworth has used the job as a platform to promote the art through organizing a writing organization and book festivals, supported by grants and support for poetry initiatives from the College of Charleston and the University of South Carolina.
She hoped to be able to sponsor more poets to get involved in the state’s schools, if the poet laureate’s office could get more state support.
“It takes a lot of time,” she said. “There are some amazing projects that could be done, but most poets work full time.”
The poet laureate’s visibility has been somewhat limited since it was created by the Legislature in 1934. Before Wentworth was appointed by Gov. Mark Sanford in 2003, the position had been vacant for three years. In 2015, NPR noted that the traditional poetry reading at the second inauguration of Gov. Nikki Haley was “cut for time,” and Wentworth said she wasn’t asked to compose a poem for the 2019 inauguration of Gov. Henry McMaster.
Wentworth hopes that after so long in the position, it could become a bigger platform for more of the Palmetto State’s poets.
“I hope state legislators will approve a bill that will allow the position to rotate among the many talented poets in our state,” Wentworth told The State of a reform that has been proposed but hasn’t gained traction in the Legislature. “Maybe this will give a little push in that direction.”
She notes many S.C. cities now sponsor their own poet laureate, one of whom could move up to the role. She says it would even make sense if “there was a poet laureate tied to every library.”
Wentworth’s poetry has been published in books including “Noticing Eden,” “Despite Gravity” and “The Endless Repetition of an Ordinary Miracle.” She also collaborated with Herb Frazier and Bernard Powers on “We Are Charleston: Tragedy and Triumph at Mother Emanuel” about the 2015 Charleston church shooting.
Reporter David Travis Bland contributed.
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