Marjory Heath Wentworth

Last updated
Marjory Heath Wentworth
BornMarjory Heath
(1958-06-03) June 3, 1958 (age 61)
Lynn, Massachusetts
OccupationPoet
Alma mater Mount Holyoke College,
New York University
Notable awards South Carolina Poet Laureate
SpousePeter
Children3
Website
www.marjorywentworth.net

Marjory Heath Wentworth (born June 3, 1958) is an American poet. She was named by Governor Mark Sanford as the sixth South Carolina Poet Laureate in 2003.

Governor of South Carolina Head of state and of government of the U.S. state of South Carolina

The governor of the State of South Carolina is the head of state for the state of South Carolina. Under the South Carolina Constitution, the governor is also the head of government, serving as the chief executive of the South Carolina executive branch. The governor is the ex officio commander-in-chief of the National Guard when not called into federal use. The governor's responsibilities include making yearly "State of the State" addresses to the South Carolina General Assembly, submitting an executive budget and ensuring that state laws are enforced.

Mark Sanford 115th governor of South Carolina

Marshall Clement "Mark" Sanford Jr. is an American politician and author. A Republican, Sanford is a former governor of South Carolina and a former member of the U.S. House of Representatives.

The South Carolina Poet Laureate is the poet laureate for the state of South Carolina. The position is currently held by Marjory Heath Wentworth. No term of office is set by law. Laureates are appointed by the Governor of South Carolina.

Contents

Biography

Early life and education

Wentworth was born Marjory Heath on June 3, 1958, in Lynn, Massachusetts, and raised in nearby Swampscott. [1] [2] Her parents were John and Mary (Tully) Heath. [3] As a child, she spent many years in and out of hospitals to correct some congenital organ anomalies. Adding further hardship was the fact that her father, John, a purchasing agent for Parker Brothers, died of leukemia when she was just 14 years old. [1] [4]

Lynn, Massachusetts City in Massachusetts, United States

Lynn is the 9th largest municipality in Massachusetts and the largest city in Essex County. Situated on the Atlantic Ocean, 3.7 miles (6.0 km) north of the Boston city line at Suffolk Downs, Lynn is part of Greater Boston's urban inner core. Settled by Europeans in 1629, Lynn is the 5th oldest colonial settlement in the Commonwealth. An early industrial center, Lynn was long colloquially referred to as the "City of Sin", owing to its historical reputation for crime and vice. Today, however, the city is known for its contemporary public art, international population, historic architecture, downtown cultural district, loft-style apartments, and public parks and open spaces, which include the oceanfront Lynn Shore Reservation; the 2,200-acre, Frederick Law Olmsted-designed Lynn Woods Reservation; and the High Rock Tower Reservation. Lynn also is home to Lynn Heritage State Park, the southernmost portion of the Essex Coastal Scenic Byway, and the seaside, National Register-listed Diamond Historic District.

Swampscott, Massachusetts Town in Massachusetts, United States

Swampscott is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States located 15 miles (24 km) up the coast from Boston in an area known as the North Shore. The population was 13,787 as of 2010. A former summer resort on Massachusetts Bay, Swampscott is today a fairly affluent residential community and includes the village of Beach Bluff, as well as part of the neighborhood of Clifton. It is known for its quiet suburban character and lovely beaches. The town was home to the scenic ocean front college, Marian Court College until 2015.

Parker Brothers American toy and game manufacturer

Parker Brothers was an American toy and game manufacturer which later became a brand of Hasbro. More than 1,800 games were published under the Parker Brothers name since 1883. Among its products were Monopoly, Cluedo, Sorry!, Risk, Trivial Pursuit, Ouija, Aggravation, Bop It, and Probe. The trade name became defunct with former products being marketed under the "Hasbro Gaming" label. However, in 2017, Hasbro revived the brand with the release of several new games which bear similarities with those of some of its previous, better-known products.

She graduated from Mount Holyoke College (where she majored in anthropology, political science, and dance) [1] and went on to receive her M.A. in Writing from New York University (NYU). While at NYU, she studied under Galway Kinnell, Phil Levine, Joseph Brodsky, and Carolyn Forché. [4] After Mount Holyoke, she did some studies at Oxford University. [1]

Mount Holyoke College Liberal arts college in Massachusetts, US

Mount Holyoke College is a private liberal arts college for women in South Hadley, Massachusetts. Founded in 1837, it is the oldest institution within the Seven Sisters schools, an alliance of East Coast liberal arts colleges that was originally created to provide women with education equivalent to that provided in the then men-only Ivy League. Mount Holyoke is part of the region's Five College Consortium, along with Amherst College, Smith College, Hampshire College, and the University of Massachusetts Amherst.

A Master of Arts is a person who was admitted to a type of master's degree awarded by universities in many countries, and the degree is also named Master of Arts in colloquial speech. The degree is usually contrasted with the Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree typically study linguistics, history, communication studies, diplomacy, public administration, political science, or other subjects within the scope of the humanities and social sciences; however, different universities have different conventions and may also offer the degree for fields typically considered within the natural sciences and mathematics. The degree can be conferred in respect of completing courses and passing examinations, research, or a combination of the two.

New York University private research university in New York, NY, United States

New York University (NYU) is a private research university based in New York City. Founded in 1831, NYU's historical campus is in Greenwich Village, Lower Manhattan. NYU also has degree-granting campuses in Abu Dhabi and Shanghai, and academic centers in Accra, Berlin, Buenos Aires, Florence, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Paris, Prague, Sydney, Tel Aviv, and Washington, D.C.

Career

While still a graduate student at New York University, Wentworth worked in refugee resettlement with the United Nations High Commission on Refugees. [4] She went on after graduating to work as a book publicist with Readers International, a branch of Amnesty International, interviewing with Brodsky for the job. [1]

United Nations Intergovernmental organization

The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization tasked with maintaining international peace and security, developing friendly relations among nations, achieving international co-operation, and being a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations. It was established after World War II, with the aim of preventing future wars, and succeeded the ineffective League of Nations. Its headquarters, which are subject to extraterritoriality, are in Manhattan, New York City, and it has other main offices in Geneva, Nairobi, Vienna and The Hague. The organization is financed by assessed and voluntary contributions from its member states. Its objectives include maintaining international peace and security, protecting human rights, delivering humanitarian aid, promoting sustainable development, and upholding international law. The UN is the largest, most familiar, most internationally represented and most powerful intergovernmental organization in the world. At its founding, the UN had 51 member states; there are now 193.

Amnesty International London-based international human rights organization

Amnesty International is a British non-governmental organization focused on human rights. The organization claims it has more than seven million members and supporters around the world.

After moving to South Carolina with her husband in 1989, Wentworth began teaching both children and adults in the area. In 1993, she started teaching as an adjunct instructor at Trident Technical College in North Charleston, South Carolina. [3] For many years she has conducted the "Expressions of Healing" class at Roper Hospital in Charleston. The class focuses on those affected by cancer. [5] She also teaches at the Charleston County School of the Arts [4] and the creative writing class at The Art Institute of Charleston. [6] She is also president of the Lowcountry Initiative for the Literary Arts. [7]

Trident Technical College

Trident Technical College (TTC) is a public community college with its main campus in Charleston, South Carolina and other campuses throughout the state. It is part of the South Carolina Technical College System. Enrollment for each semester is approximately 12,000 students working their way toward college transfer associate degrees and technical associate degrees, diplomas, and certificates.

North Charleston, South Carolina City in South Carolina, United States

North Charleston is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, with incorporated areas in Berkeley, Charleston, and Dorchester counties. On June 12, 1972, the city of North Charleston was incorporated and was rated as the ninth-largest city in South Carolina. As of the 2010 Census, North Charleston had a population of 97,471, growing to an estimated population of 114,000+ in 2019, and with a current area of more than 76.6 square miles (198.5 km2). As defined by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget, for use by the U.S. Census Bureau and other U.S. Government agencies for statistical purposes only, North Charleston is included within the Charleston–North Charleston–Summerville metropolitan area and the Charleston-North Charleston urban area. North Charleston is one of the state's major industrial centers and is the state's top city in gross retail sales. It is home to Academic Magnet High School, which is consistently ranked as one of the best high schools in the nation.

Wentworth and her husband Peter run Wentworth PR which manages public relations for publishers and authors such as Dottie Frank, Mary Alice Monroe, and Gary Smith. [1]

Public relations (PR) is the practice of deliberately managing the spread of information between an individual or an organization and the public. Public relations may include an organization or individual gaining exposure to their audiences using topics of public interest and news items that do not require direct payment. This differentiates it from advertising as a form of marketing communications. Public relations is the idea of creating coverage for clients for free, rather than marketing or advertising. But now, advertising is also a part of greater PR Activities. An example of good public relations would be generating an article featuring a client, rather than paying for the client to be advertised next to the article. The aim of public relations is to inform the public, prospective customers, investors, partners, employees, and other stakeholders and ultimately persuade them to maintain a positive or favorable view about the organization, its leadership, products, or political decisions. Public relations professionals typically work for PR and marketing firms, businesses and companies, government, and public officials as PIOs and nongovernmental organizations, and nonprofit organizations. Jobs central to public relations include account coordinator, account executive, account supervisor, and media relations manager.

Mary Alice Monroe is a best-selling author known for fiction that explore the compelling parallels between nature and human nature. Many of her novels deal with environmental issues. For example, The Beach House and Swimming Lessons refer to the plight of injured sea turtles.

Poet laureateship

Wentworth read the inaugural poem at Mark Sanford's first inauguration as Governor of South Carolina. [1] Shortly thereafter, in 2003, he appointed her as the sixth South Carolina Poet Laureate. [8] Usually given a small honorarium ($1,200) as poet laureate, this honorarium was cut by Sanford in 2003 when Wentworth agreed to serve without the pay. [9] As poet laureate, Wentworth is on the board of directors of The Poetry Society of South Carolina. [10]

Personal life

She is married to filmmaker Peter Wentworth and they have three sons. They were introduced by her brother, Jack, and were married soon after graduating from college, [1] on June 27, 1981. [3] The Wentworth family moved to Sullivan's Island, South Carolina, and lived there for many years, beginning in 1989. Shortly after relocating, though, Hurricane Hugo hit the area hard and they were unable to live in their house for nearly a year. It was during that time that their third child was born. [1] Later, the family moved to nearby Mount Pleasant in 2004. [11]

Wentworth is a close friend of former South Carolina first lady Jenny Sanford. [12]

Awards and honors

Works

Wentworth's poetry collections include:

Other works include:

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References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Watts, Judy (August 30, 2003). "Hard times have inspired new poet laureate of South Carolina to become advocate for writing". The Charleston Post and Courier. Retrieved December 20, 2012.
  2. ↑ "Marjory Wentworth". South Carolina Center for the Book. Archived from the original on January 27, 2014. Retrieved December 20, 2012.
  3. 1 2 3 "Wentworth, Marjory Heath". The South Carolina Encyclopedia. Columbia, South Carolina: University of South Carolina Press. 2006. p. 1014. ISBN   978-1-57003-598-2.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Abedon, Emily Perlman (January 2009). "Charleston Profile: Marjory Wentworth". Charleston Magazine. Retrieved December 20, 2012.
  5. 1 2 Williams, Stephanie Burt (September 5, 2008). "It's What I Can Do". Low Country Living Magazine. Archived from the original on February 4, 2013. Retrieved December 20, 2012.
  6. 1 2 "About". Marjory Heath Wentworth. Archived from the original on February 4, 2013. Retrieved December 20, 2012.
  7. ↑ "LILA Board Members". Lowcountry Initiative for the Literary Arts. Retrieved December 20, 2012.
  8. ↑ "Poet Laureate". South Carolina Arts Commission. Retrieved December 8, 2012.
  9. ↑ Stanton, David (June 18, 2003). "Gov. Sanford releases budget vetoes". WIS TV channel 10. Retrieved December 20, 2012.
  10. ↑ "Board of Directors". The Poetry Society of South Carolina. Retrieved December 20, 2012.
  11. ↑ Tibbetts, John H. (Fall 2004). "The Coast's Great Leap". Coastal Heritage. South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium. 19 (2).
  12. ↑ Hankla, Kristen (December 11, 2009). "Marjory Wentworth, South Carolina's poet laureate". The Charleston Post and Courier. Retrieved December 20, 2012.
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