Marjory Heath Wentworth
Marjory Heath Wentworth teaches for The College of Charleston, The Art Institute of Charleston, and Charleston County Schools’ Engaging Creative Minds Program. She worked in the field of human rights; founded and guided the “Expressions of Healing” program at Roper St. Francis Cancer Center; worked as a publicist for books, television, and film; and conducts creative writing workshops for children and adults.
Wentworth received her B.A. in anthropology and political science from Mount Holyoke College and an M.A. in literature and creative writing from New York University. She is married to filmmaker Peter Wentworth. They reside in Mt. Pleasant, SC, and have three sons.
Nominated for the Pushcart Prize seven times, Wentworth’s poetry includes What the Water Gives Me (2002), Noticing Eden (2003), Despite Gravity (2007), The Endless Repetition of an Ordinary Miracle (2010), and New and Selected Poem (2014). Her poems have been published in numerous magazines, books, and anthologies. In 1996, her poems received the Peregrine Prize and the South Carolina Academy of Authors Prize. Wentworth continues receiving grants and awards.
Wentworth’s Shackles - nominated for a SIBA (Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance) Award for Best Book in the children and young-adult category - won the Silver Medal (2009, Moonbeam’s Children Awards for Multicultural Children’s Books). With Juan Mendez, Wentworth wrote Taking a Stand; the Evolution of Human Rights (nominated for the 2013 WOLA/Duke Human Rights Book Award and the 2011 SIBA Award for Nonfiction).
With Kwame Dawes, Wentworth coedited the ekphrastic Seeking: Poetry and Prose Inspired by the Art of Jonathan Green (2013). The University of South Carolina Press published Wentworth’s New and Selected Poems in 2014. With Herb Frazier and Dr. Bernard Edward Powers Jr., Wentworth coauthored We are Charleston: Tragedy and Triumph at Mother Emanuel (2016). Out of Wonder Poems Celebrating Poets was published in 2017 in conjunction with Kwame featuring poetry from Wentworth, Chris Colderry, and Newberry Award-winning author and poet Kwame Alexander.
Poet Laureate of South Carolina from 2003-2017, Wentworth cofounded the Lowcountry Initiative for the Literary Arts (LILA). She serves on a variety of boards, including the Poetry Society of South Carolina and the Poetry Series Editorial Board with South Carolina Academy of Authors Inductees Nikky Finney, Terrance Hayes, and Kwame Dawes. Wentworth’s poetry has been displayed at the National Science Foundation and Duke University Museum of Art. Her work is included in the South Carolina Poetry Archives at Furman University. Wentworth was inducted into the South Carolina Academy of Authors in 2015.
Wentworth received her B.A. in anthropology and political science from Mount Holyoke College and an M.A. in literature and creative writing from New York University. She is married to filmmaker Peter Wentworth. They reside in Mt. Pleasant, SC, and have three sons.
Nominated for the Pushcart Prize seven times, Wentworth’s poetry includes What the Water Gives Me (2002), Noticing Eden (2003), Despite Gravity (2007), The Endless Repetition of an Ordinary Miracle (2010), and New and Selected Poem (2014). Her poems have been published in numerous magazines, books, and anthologies. In 1996, her poems received the Peregrine Prize and the South Carolina Academy of Authors Prize. Wentworth continues receiving grants and awards.
Wentworth’s Shackles - nominated for a SIBA (Southern Independent Booksellers Alliance) Award for Best Book in the children and young-adult category - won the Silver Medal (2009, Moonbeam’s Children Awards for Multicultural Children’s Books). With Juan Mendez, Wentworth wrote Taking a Stand; the Evolution of Human Rights (nominated for the 2013 WOLA/Duke Human Rights Book Award and the 2011 SIBA Award for Nonfiction).
With Kwame Dawes, Wentworth coedited the ekphrastic Seeking: Poetry and Prose Inspired by the Art of Jonathan Green (2013). The University of South Carolina Press published Wentworth’s New and Selected Poems in 2014. With Herb Frazier and Dr. Bernard Edward Powers Jr., Wentworth coauthored We are Charleston: Tragedy and Triumph at Mother Emanuel (2016). Out of Wonder Poems Celebrating Poets was published in 2017 in conjunction with Kwame featuring poetry from Wentworth, Chris Colderry, and Newberry Award-winning author and poet Kwame Alexander.
Poet Laureate of South Carolina from 2003-2017, Wentworth cofounded the Lowcountry Initiative for the Literary Arts (LILA). She serves on a variety of boards, including the Poetry Society of South Carolina and the Poetry Series Editorial Board with South Carolina Academy of Authors Inductees Nikky Finney, Terrance Hayes, and Kwame Dawes. Wentworth’s poetry has been displayed at the National Science Foundation and Duke University Museum of Art. Her work is included in the South Carolina Poetry Archives at Furman University. Wentworth was inducted into the South Carolina Academy of Authors in 2015.
